Victoria’s WFH hokey pokey
You put your WFH laws in…
You take your WFH laws out…
You put your WFH laws in…
And you shake it all about…
New Work From Home laws in Victoria have been deferred with a potential start date of 1 July 2027.
If they come into play, it is the intention that these will be added on top of the existing Flexible Work terms in the Australia wide Fair Work Act, meaning employers will need to navigate both State and Federal obligations.
Importantly, the legal landscape is still evolving.
On 30 July 2026, the Australian Financial Review quoted anonymous sources that new Victorian premier Ben Carroll may make further changes to the WFH laws on the topics of:
- potentially dumping the “stacking clause” that allows employees who have negotiated flexible working arrangements to receive extra days at home
- removing the cost imposed on employers to allow staff to work remotely and
- ensuring businesses are not liable for injuries that occur while employees are working from home.
Then on 10 August 2026, Ben Carroll decided to prolong the start date to 1 July 2027 and undertake business consultation in the meantime. Add a Victorian election in the middle and who knows if these laws will ever get up, and if they do, what changes will be made between now and then.
But the delay doesn’t mean you can ignore this space altogether. Employers will still need to be comply with the Fair Work regime which has had some interesting decisions lately, explored in our blog post here. It is still a rapidly moving area and highly publicised in the media meaning we see more employees interested in leveraging this for their own personal circumstances.
