Victorian Premier Ben Carroll delays work-from-home legislation after business lobbying

In 2025, Jacinta Allan pulled off a rare political masterstroke.

Off the back of a federal election that Peter Dutton arguably lost, in part, because of his crusade to force public servants back into the office, Allan announced that Victoria would legislate the right to work from home two days a week for those who can reasonably do so.

The message was simple and effective: the premier was on your side. Allan was standing up to the corporate behemoths – and their buddies in parliament – who wanted you back at your desk, five days a week.

But just when the bill was about to pass this week, the new premier, Ben Carroll, muddled the message.

After the shadow attorney general, James Newbury, told reporters the Coalition would not stand in the bill’s way and they “support people’s right to work from home” (subject to a few amendments), Carroll said debate on the legislation would be delayed.

Not only that, he said the earliest the laws would commence would be next July – 10 months later than originally planned and more than six months after the November state election.

It followed an 11th-hour media blitz by the country’s largest business lobby groups, including a press conference with nine speakers, featuring warnings that unemployment would rise and companies may relocate.

“I spoke to a member this morning who said to me, ‘working from home could also be working from the Philippines’,” said Tim Piper, from the Australian Industry Group.

Carroll said he had spoken to both Piper and Sally Curtain, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, on Tuesday morning to confirm the delay. He described it as part of his “reset with the business community” and a signal that Victoria was “open for business”.

“I want to be very clear – I support work from home. I support flexible work. It is good for working families,” he said on Tuesday.

“Equally, though … everyone knows it’s a partnership between working families and the business community and the government.

“That is why I’ve delayed these changes, and it’s why I’m going to continue to work with the business community on making sure this policy is right.”

Carroll took a handful of questions on the matter before ending his press conference.

He had earlier signalled that he wanted to make “sensible changes” to the legislation, including about home-office equipment and other costs, rather than delaying it in its entirety.

Allan had promised Victorians the right to work from home would be in place by 1 September. Carroll has now pushed that promise into the next parliament – if Labor is even in government to ensure it happens.

It’s giving the opposition a free kick: it can position itself as a supporter of work from home while accusing the government of breaking its promise. And it was quick to do so, with Newbury saying Carroll’s comments today have “proven that he cannot be trusted”.

“His government made a guarantee that these laws would be in place on 1 September, a guarantee he has broken. Victorians cannot trust this premier or his Labor government,” Newbury said.

Labor MPs are mixed on the delay.

One said it is simply tactical, made to give Carroll’s staff – many just switching over to the new office – the time to work on their own amendments rather than being forced to support the opposition’s.

Another said it was “sensible” and accused Allan of refusing to consult industry on “even the smallest, most reasonable of reforms”.

Others varyingly described the policy as “half-cooked” or “political gold”. It continues to poll well, most said, though it is not voters’ priority.

All, though, stress that debate will still go ahead.

Read simply, it’s another way Carroll is seeking to differentiate himself from Allan: where she saw an opportunity to pick a fight with business, he appears to want to make peace.

But if that is the strategy, there is an obvious problem: business does not appear particularly interested in making peace. They’ve got a win, and based on their comments on Tuesday, they will continue to pressure Carroll to dump the laws altogether.

The Business Council’s chief executive, Bran Black, said while he “welcomed the deferral of the start date”, they “remain opposed to the overall bill, and it should not proceed”.

“Our position remains clear: the legislation is unnecessary and should be scrapped,” he said.

The Property Council’s Victorian executive director, Cath Evans, said the delay was “not the end of the process”.

Curtain went even further, issuing a statement saying Carroll had been in direct contact with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was “willing to meet”.

“We hope to persuade him to abandon this destructive course,” she said.