Victoria moves to legislate right to work from home

The Victorian Government has today introduced the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 (Bill) into Parliament. The proposed legislation aims to establish a statutory right for eligible employees to work from home (WFH) two days a week for full-time employees and on a pro rata basis for part-time and casual employees (with the method for calculating the pro rata entitlement to be set out in the regulations).

If passed, employers will be required to allow eligible employees to WFH and must cover any reasonable costs associated with those arrangements, including essential equipment (such as hardware and software) and secure access to the employer's information systems.

Who is (and isn’t) covered by the WFH right?

The Bill covers all employees, whether in the public or private sectors, except for the following:

• employees on probation (this is not yet defined, and presumably could apply to employees subject to probationary periods longer than the typical periods of three or six months)
• apprentices, trainees, interns, and participants in a graduate program, on work experience or similar program
• gig workers and sole traders
• irregular casuals
• significantly, employees who are eligible to request flexible work arrangements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and wish to do so. This applies to employees subject to the Fair Work Act who have at least 12 months’ service and seek a WFH arrangement because they are pregnant, have parental responsibilities for a school-aged or younger child, are a carer, have a disability, are aged 55 or older, are experiencing family and domestic violence, or provide care or support to an immediate family or household member experiencing family and domestic violence.

When can an employer refuse the WFH right?

If an employer considers two days of WFH unreasonable, they must still allow the employee to WFH to the extent that is ‘reasonable’.

What is ‘reasonable’ depends on a range of factors, including whether:

• the inherent requirements of the employee’s role require their regular attendance at the workplace, including to use on-site equipment or to interact with members of the public, clients or customers
• WFH would cause a significant decrease in productivity or efficiency
• WFH would have an adverse impact on safety
• WFH would have a significant impact on supervision, training or professional development
• WFH would have a significant impact on the capacity to build relationships between stakeholders, clients or customers
• WFH would have a significant impact on customer service
• WFH would impose excessive financial costs on the employer
• WFH would require the employer to make changes to the working arrangements that are impractical
• WFH would require the employer to make new hirings that are impractical.

What is the process for exercising the WFH right?

An employee must submit WFH requests to their employer in writing. Unless it is not practicable to do so, the notice must specify:

• the days and any specific times the employee intends to WFH
• the location, if the employee intends to work from a place other than their private residence.

The employer must respond to the notice within 21 days. The response must state whether the request is considered reasonable and, if not, whether the employer will allow the employee to WFH on an alternative basis.

Where will disputes be determined?

Disputes about WFH rights will be dealt with in the same way as other complaints and disputes arising under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic). This means employees can raise disputes in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (which can only conciliate) or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (which can conciliate and make determinations to resolve the dispute). Costs cannot be awarded to parties to these proceedings unless in exceptional circumstances.

If an employee disputes their employer’s refusal of their WFH right, the employee will have to abide by the lawful and reasonable directions of their employer regarding place of work until the dispute is resolved. However, the employee could make an application for an interim order permitting WFH pending resolution of the dispute.

When will the new law take effect?

If passed, the new law will commence on 1 September 2026 for most workplaces and on 1 July 2027 for small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.

What should employers be doing now?

While the Bill is being heard, employers may begin preparing by:

• assessing which roles can reasonably accommodate WFH requests
• reviewing existing flexible work policies
• training managers to assess ‘reasonableness’ consistently
• preparing for potential disputes and increased scrutiny.

We will continue to provide updates as they become available. In the meantime, please contact us here if you have any questions about the proposed legislation or its proposed impact on your business.

Disclaimer
The information in this article is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, we do not guarantee that the information in this article is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.

Published by:

Charles Power

Ben Schwab

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