Australia’s 2025 Federal election: What employers need to know

At a glance

• Australia’s 2025 federal election has conclusively returned the incumbent moderate Labor government with a strengthened majority.
• The result gives the government a clear mandate to expand on the significant employment and workplace relations reforms introduced during its previous term.

Over the past term, the government introduced sweeping reforms across key areas: enhanced parental leave; enterprise bargaining changes; new rules for casual and fixed-term employment; regulation of independent contractors; a legislated right to disconnect; and heightened obligations to prevent workplace sexual harassment. Wage theft was also criminalised, and penalties for breaches of employment laws were significantly increased.

Looking ahead, the government is expected to move quickly on further reforms, including:

• Legislating to protecting penalty rates in modern awards for weekend, overtime, and public holiday work.
• Requiring employers who offer paid parental leave to extend those entitlements to parents affected by stillbirth or early infant death.
• Banning non-compete clauses for employees earning below the high-income threshold, which will rise to AUD183,000 from 1 July 2025.

International employers should closely monitor these developments and review their Australian employment practices to ensure compliance in this evolving legal landscape.