Victorian state government proposes new work from home laws (update)

At a glance

• Following the update on 15 June 2026, the Victorian state government introduced the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 (Vic) (Bill) to give 'eligible employees' a right to work from home for up to two days per week (pro rata for part-time employees).  
• The Bill remains before the Victorian Parliament but is intended to commence on 1 September 2026 (or 1 July 2027 for small business employers).

Update: 27 August 2026

Victorian Premier, Bill Carroll has announced plans to delay the commencement of the Bill to 1 July 2027. The Premier will continue to engage with relevant bodies before passing the legislation and has stated that his government will consider any 'sensible amendments' to the Bill.

26 June 2026

Following the update on 15 June 2026, the Victorian state government introduced the Bill to give 'eligible employees' a right to work from home for up to two days per week (pro rata for part-time employees). 

The Bill creates a statutory right for certain 'eligible employees' to work from home, but this does not extend to:

• Employees on probation.
• Apprentices, trainees, interns, and graduate program participants.
• Regulated workers and regulated businesses under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act) (eg, digital labour platform operators and road transport businesses).
• Certain employees who are parties to a services contract under the Fair Work Act.
• Employees who are covered by flexible working arrangements under the Fair Work Act.
• Casual employees who do not work regular and systematic hours.
• Any other employees prescribed by regulations.

Notice and response process

• Employee obligation: An employee must give written notice specifying the days and times they propose to work from home, and any location other than their residential address.

• Employer obligation: The employer must respond in writing within 21 days and pay reasonable costs needed to enable working from home. A request may be refused if the employer considers the arrangement unreasonable, but the response must include reasons.
• Reasonableness factors: Whether a refusal is reasonable is assessed having regard to:
  • • the inherent requirements of the role;
    • productivity impacts;
    • work health and safety considerations;
    • supervision requirements;
    • client and customer impacts;
    • confidentiality and data security risks; and
    • cost implications.

Takeaways

If the Bill is passed, employers should:

• Review and update flexible work and work from home policies to align with the new framework.
• Implement a clear internal process for receiving requests and issuing compliant written responses within 21 days.
• Train managers to assess requests against the 'reasonableness' criteria.