Victorian state government proposes new work from home laws

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).

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.