The two-day work-from-home right stays, but Victoria’s new Premier hints changes could follow
Small business had one clear ask for Victoria’s new Premier. Three days into the job, he gave them a partial answer, and it wasn’t the one they wanted.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) had urged Ben Carroll to use the change in leadership as a chance to scrap the state’s proposed work-from-home legislation. COSBOA CEO Skye Cappuccio argued the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 risked adding costs, compliance obligations and uncertainty for small businesses already managing a complex workplace relations system.
The small business case against it
COSBOA was careful to frame its position as pro-flexibility, not anti-flexibility. “Small businesses support flexibility where it works for the employee, the employer and the business,” Cappuccio said. Her concern was the extra regulatory layer the bill would add. “Our concern is that Victoria’s proposed work-from-home legislation would add another layer of regulation at a time when small businesses need clarity, simplicity and confidence.”
As drafted, the bill gives eligible Victorian employees a presumptive right to work from home up to two days a week, unless an employer can show it’s not reasonable. COSBOA had also raised concerns that employers could be required to cover costs like hardware, software and secure system access to make those arrangements possible, expenses Cappuccio said hit small operators harder than large ones. “These expenses may be manageable for large organisations, but they can have a much greater impact on small businesses operating on tight margins.”
COSBOA also pointed out that flexible work requests are already covered under Australia’s national workplace relations framework, arguing a separate Victorian entitlement risks duplicating existing law. Its fallback position, if the bill wasn’t withdrawn entirely, was that businesses with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees should be exempt.
The ask to Carroll was direct. “With Premier Ben Carroll now in place, there is an opportunity for the Victorian Government to pause this Bill and take a fresh look at whether it is necessary, practical or proportionate,” Cappuccio said. “Ideally, the Government should withdraw the proposal and work within the existing national framework.”
Carroll’s response
That’s not the direction Carroll has signalled. Asked about the legislation just days into the top job, he confirmed he’d consider changes, but not the kind COSBOA was hoping for, according to NewsWire.
“Work from home does work for families, and now it will go through that parliamentary process, and we will consider anything that is sensible,” Carroll said, per NewsWire. “Sensible changes will always come up in any debate, and like any other debate, they will be considered.”
More significantly for small business, Carroll confirmed the core entitlement isn’t up for negotiation. Asked whether the two-day work-from-home right would remain part of the bill, he said, “That’s the plan,” NewsWire reported.
What’s still open
The legislation, introduced under former Premier Jacinta Allan, would give workers the right to work from home two days a week if reasonable, with pro rata arrangements for part-time and casual staff, according to NewsWire.
What Carroll hasn’t said is what counts as “sensible.” That’s likely where the real negotiation now happens. COSBOA’s specific asks, particularly the exemption for businesses under 50 FTE, remain on the table as the bill moves through parliament, but the wholesale withdrawal the group pushed for looks unlikely based on Carroll’s early comments.
For small business owners watching this bill, the practical question hasn’t changed much: what will it actually cost to comply, and will the final version include any carve-out for smaller operators. Carroll’s comments suggest those questions are still open, just not the way COSBOA hoped.
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