Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Sonya KILKENNY (Carrum – Attorney-General, Minister for Planning) (14:09): As you have heard, commencing 1 September this year Victorians will have the right to work from home, and our Labor government will defend that right. That is why we will enshrine it in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, because we know Victorian workers and families want flexibility. They want more time with their families and less time stuck in traffic. They want workplaces that reflect the way people actually live and work today, not the way they worked a decade ago. On this side of the house, we will always fight to give workers the conditions they need and deserve. Embedding these protections in the Equal Opportunity Act is deliberate. It creates a clear, enforceable legal right, and it means workers have somewhere to turn if their rights are denied, and it makes these protections much harder for the Liberals to rip away from working people.

Here is the truth. Victorian families value working from home. They know it saves them money. They know it saves them time. They know it boosts productivity and workforce participation. It strengthens family finances and increases workforce participation. It reflects the modern economy Victorians understand. Those opposite cannot handle this truth. Those opposite do not support these reforms, and we know that given the chance they would rip these protections away. It is precisely why we are embedding this right in the equal opportunity framework, making it harder to dismantle and stronger to defend. So let us send a really clear message to anyone who wants to tear these rights away: we will fight. We will see you in court because these rights are worth defending. Labor is on the side of workers and families. Wherever that fight happens, we will protect it.