Victorian workers will wait at least another 10 months for promised work-from-home protections after Premier Ben Carroll delayed the legislation until July 2027, bowing to pressure from business groups who threatened the reforms would hurt the state's economy.
Carroll announced he'd personally informed Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Sally Curtain and Australian Industry Group head Tim Piper that the laws wouldn't proceed on their scheduled September 1 start date. "I've spoken with Sally Curtain this morning, and Tim Piper, and I've informed them that work-from-home will not proceed on the 1st of September," he said. "It will proceed on the 1st of July, 2027."
The laws, first flagged by former premier Jacinta Allan last year, were designed to give employees formal rights to request flexible working arrangements. They're now pushed back nearly a year.
Business Groups Get What They Wanted
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed the delay but didn't back down from its opposition. Curtain said the legislation posed a "profound risk" to the state's economy. "The Victorian Chamber maintains that the Bill must be scrapped, as it is completely unnecessary, costly and burdensome for Victorian businesses," she said.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said the government was taking "the first steps" in listening to the business community, but still argued for scrapping the legislation altogether. "Already, Victoria has the highest unemployment rate in the country and the Victorian economy cannot afford another policy that drives investment and jobs away, which only hurts Victorians through lower living standards," Black said.
Business leaders have expressed concerns about a lack of flexibility in the legislation and the economic impact of home office costs to smaller businesses.
Who Bears the Cost
Greens leader Ellen Sandell slammed the government for the delay, accusing the premier of prioritizing business interests over everyday Victorians. "Workers were weeks away from finally getting these hard-earned rights. Then the corporate lobby came knocking and the new Labor premier rolled over," Sandell said.
"Women, carers and disabled people might now be forced back into commuting full-time for at least another 10 months because the new premier has decided keeping big business happy matters more than making working people's lives easier," she said.
Carroll defended the delay by saying he supported working-from-home laws but wanted the benefits balanced against other priorities. "It is good for working families," he said. "Equally though, we need to make sure that our economy — everyone knows its a partnership between working families and the business community and the government."
He said he would listen to and consult on any "common-sense" amendments, but promised the legislation would pass before the November state election.
Opposition Calls for Transition Period
Shadow Attorney-General James Newbury said the opposition had announced its proposed amendments to the work-from-home legislation. He said the opposition supported work-from-home laws but wanted amendments to ease a transition period. "Rolling out a change of this nature within three weeks across an entire economy is difficult," he said. "I think it's only reasonable that there's some understandable delay."
He said the opposition was also asking for amendments to remove the right of unions to enter the property of a person working from home.
In an exclusive interview with the ABC last week, Carroll said resetting his relationship with Victoria's businesses was one of his biggest priorities. "I'll roll the red carpet out for them. I want to grow our economy. We've got the best workforce in the nation, the most skilled. This is my focus," he said. "I think it's about a rhetorical reset, making sure that business knows I'm in their corner."
Curtain said the premier had been in touch directly and indicated he was willing to meet. "We hope to persuade him to abandon this destructive course," she said.
Victim Protections Move Forward
At a press conference on Tuesday, Carroll also flagged law reforms designed at protecting victim-survivors. "We spend too much time talking about perpetrators, we need to spend more time talking about the victims," Carroll said.
The government will move forward with legislation making coercive control a standalone criminal offence. Victoria will also scrap the use of "good character" references in the sentencing process.
The Carroll government also announced it would work to limit the use of suppression orders, making it so that convicted rapists wouldn't be able to use the court orders to protect their identity. It comes following the use of suppression orders by convicted rapists Ralph Carr and Tom Silvagni, which kept their identities hidden from the public.
But the government stopped short of guaranteeing the change to suppression orders, saying the reforms would be contingent on Labor winning a fourth term at the state election later this year.
Why This Matters:
The delay reveals who holds power when worker protections collide with business demands. Women, carers, and disabled workers — groups most likely to benefit from formal work-from-home rights — will now wait until next year while business groups get extended consultation on legislation they've already said they want scrapped entirely. Victoria already has the highest unemployment rate in the country, but that's precisely when stronger worker protections matter most: they prevent a race to the bottom where employees accept worse conditions out of desperation. The premier's promise to be "in the corner" of business while delaying protections for working families shows which constituency gets immediate response and which gets asked to wait. Meanwhile, the government's willingness to move forward quickly on victim protections — including limiting suppression orders for convicted rapists — demonstrates it can act decisively when it chooses to prioritize vulnerable people over institutional resistance.