Victoria's bid to be the first Australian state to make working from home a legal right has hit a roadblock and won't be revisited before the November election.
The proposal, first announced in March, aimed to introduce the new right on September 1, 2026. However, small businesses with fewer than 15 employees were given a slightly longer timeframe, with a proposed start date of July 1, 2027, to allow them time to update their HR policies and procedures.
What the bill would have done
The Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026, introduced in June, would have created a statutory right under the Equal Opportunity Act for eligible full-time employees to work from home up to two days a week, where it was reasonable to do so, with a pro-rata entitlement for part-time and casual staff. Disputes were set to go through the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission for conciliation first, with unresolved matters able to proceed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which could order an employer to allow the arrangement.
The bill was brought on for debate in the upper house on Thursday, a day after Premier Ben Carroll unveiled last-minute changes intended to make the laws more workable for business. It wasn't enough to get it across the line. The Coalition combined with minor parties, including One Nation and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, to refer the bill to a parliamentary inquiry rather than bring it to a vote. The motion, led by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Jeff Bourman, passed by the narrowest possible margin, 18 votes to 17.
What happens next
The inquiry isn't due to report back until 20 October, and with only one sitting week left before Victoria's parliament dissolves ahead of the state election, the bill has no realistic path to passing this term. Business groups have argued the laws in their current form risk making Victoria less competitive and should be abandoned outright, while the government has accused opponents of walking back support for workers at the last minute. For now, Victorian employers, including the small businesses that were promised a longer runway, face no new legislated obligation, but the issue is set up to be a genuine election battleground.