Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Regional Development) (12:46): I would like to inform the house of the significant economic benefits of the Allan Labor government’s working-from-home laws. Working from home is already transforming the way Victorians work, live and move around our state, providing more opportunities than ever before for Victorians to participate in the economy. Thirty-six per cent of Australians already work from home, including 60 per cent of professionals, according to the ABS. CEDA research shows that working from home increases workforce participation by 4.4 per cent. It also states that working from home on average saves a worker $110 a week, equating to over $5000 a year. Working from home also is cutting congestion. Victorians on average have three more hours in their day when they are not commuting. Even if you cannot work from home, we know that reduced congestion will get you to work faster, saving you time and money, boosting productivity and moving workers and goods faster. People who work from home use that saved time very often not just to improve their lives at home but also to work around 20 per cent longer, benefiting their employer. This is good for the economy. It also boosts local economies, whether they are suburbs or whether they are regional areas, because workers who get to work in their own communities spend their saved money in their own communities, which is good news for small business.
There are many people that are going around talking down this policy, saying that it should not be a right for everyone and saying that businesses will leave the state if we make this a law. I would point to evidence from this morning, in the last hour. The ABS released economic growth figures for the December quarter. Business investment in Victoria grew by 2.2 per cent in this quarter, well above the national average of 0.2 per cent and even further than in New South Wales, where business investment went backwards, minus 1.4 per cent. Given this increased business investment and given the economic growth, I would say that is pretty good evidence off the back of a policy that was announced in August last year.