A major shift in workplace regulation
The Victorian Government has introduced a Bill that would give eligible employees a legal right to work from home up to two days a week, where reasonable — not merely a right to request it.
If passed, this moves working from home from a discretionary arrangement to a formal entitlement. For businesses, it's not just a policy change: it reshapes how requests are handled, how refusals must be justified, and who carries the cost.
Limited time to prepare
With a proposed start date as early as September, many businesses may not have sufficient time to fully assess, plan and prepare for these changes.
Even at this stage, there are unanswered questions about how the legislation would apply in practice.
Now is the time to understand the impact. Download the Member AdviceWhat this could mean in practice
The proposed framework introduces concrete obligations and tight timeframes. The detail that matters most:
2 days
Per week eligible full-time employees could work from home, where reasonable (pro rata for part-time).
21 days
To respond in writing once an employee gives notice of their intention to work from home.
Employer
Pays the reasonable costs of enabling remote work — equipment, software and secure system access.
Limited grounds to say no
A refusal must be justified against a structured reasonableness test — and clearly documented. "No" becomes a decision you have to evidence.
Service & consistency
Maintaining customer service and consistent operational standards as more roles work remotely.
Productivity & teamwork
Managing output and day-to-day coordination across a more dispersed workforce.
Admin & process
New notice, assessment and record-keeping obligations, and the compliance risk if requests aren't handled properly.
The questions businesses are asking
Straight answers on the practical detail. For advice on your specific situation, our team can help.
How do we respond to a work from home request properly?
Once an eligible employee gives written notice, you'll have 21 days to respond in writing. If you don't intend to agree, your response needs to set out reasons that stand up against the statutory reasonableness test. Getting the process and documentation right from the first request is what reduces your risk.
On what grounds can we actually refuse?
Refusal is only available where allowing it would not be reasonable — assessed against defined factors such as whether the role's inherent requirements can be met remotely, whether specialised on-site equipment is needed, and the effect on in-person client or stakeholder interactions. It's a structured test, not a general discretion.
Which roles genuinely need to be on-site?
This is the practical work to do now: mapping which roles can reasonably be performed from home and which have a defensible on-site requirement, before notices start arriving. A clear, consistent position across similar roles is far easier to justify than case-by-case decisions made under time pressure.
When does this apply to us?
If passed in its current form, the entitlement commences 1 September 2026 for most employers. Small businesses with fewer than 15 employees have a deferred start of 1 July 2027. Either way, the preparation — role assessment, policy updates, response processes — is best done ahead of your commencement date.
What will it cost us?
Employers would be required to meet the reasonable costs of enabling an eligible employee to work from home, which can include essential hardware and software and secure access to your systems. The scope of "reasonable" is one of the areas where practical guidance matters.
We support flexible work that’s practical, workable and agreed — not a rigid framework that ignores how businesses actually operate.
Australian Industry Group is actively engaging with government and stakeholders to ensure business concerns are understood as this Bill progresses.
Get ready with confidence
- →Understand how the proposed changes apply to your specific situation
- →Identify which roles can reasonably accommodate work from home
- →Update policies and build a sound request-response process
- →Ensure your concerns are represented in ongoing advocacy
How we can support your business
Australian Industry Group is working with businesses to:
Get expert guidance tailored to your business
Our Workplace Relations team can help you understand what these changes mean, and how to respond.
Tell us how this could impact your business
We are keen to hear from you about your concerns. Your feedback will inform our ongoing advocacy and ensure real business experiences are represented.
