Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Ministers statements: working from home

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:07): Eleven days ago we announced that our government would legislate the right of Victorians to work from home, and yesterday I was pleased to stand with the Treasurer to confirm the consultation with Victorians to hear from them about what is working right now as they work from home, how it gives workers time and money back into their day and how they can have their say as we develop legislation. And today, with the Attorney-General, we stood with Victorian tradies, plumbers and union members, who said loud and clear that working from home works for everyone. I am really pleased to update the house that in just the 24 hours after the survey was made available for the Victorian community to have their say Victorians have had their say already, with more than 6000 Victorians already – just in the first 24 hours – having their say. And of course this opportunity runs for the next seven weeks.

This is, if I can share with you, an example of a worker who cannot work from home. Dave is a plumber. Dave is working right now on the new Footscray Hospital project. He lives in the great outer east and works on the new Footscray Hospital project. But his wife can work from home, and she works from home one day a week, which gives his family balance. It gives his family balance, it gives them time, it gives them less stress and it puts money back into their household budget. These are the workers that can benefit from working from home. Workers know that working from home works. It is good for the economy too because workers are more productive. And that is why, being on the side of workers, we are going to protect their right to work from home.