Tuesday, 3 March 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:04): Victorians want the right to work from home, and my Labor government is going to protect the right for Victorians to work from home. Victorians want this right protected because they know it saves workers time and they know it saves them money and gives families more space in their day as well. Whether it is time to take the kids to school or whether it is saving time on their commute, working from home is good for families. It is also good for the economy because it gets parents back into the workforce – more people in the workforce lifting productivity, cutting congestion and also putting more money back into those household budgets, estimated at more than $5000 a year.

But right now your ability to access this flexibility depends on who you work for. If you are in a big company, like a big bank, you are far more likely to have the opportunity to work from home. If you work in a small business, you are far more likely to have that opportunity knocked back. Even more than this, 3000 Victorians who responded to our survey told us that they did not even feel confident enough to ask for the opportunity to work from home even though they could. That is not fair, which is why my Labor government is making it fair. If you can work from home, you will have the right to do so, no matter the size of your workforce, whether you are in a small business or a big one, because flexibility should not be a privilege. It should be something that every Victorian can rely on and the families that they support.

While we are making working from home a right and protecting it, there are some who want to see a return to the office. There are some who are wanting to cut the opportunity for working people to have the right to work from home. Only Labor is going to back those families.