Australia: Contract of Employment

Victoria's proposed Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 would establish a statutory right for eligible employees to work remotely up to two days per week, fundamentally shifting the balance of workplace flexibility from employer discretion to employee entitlement. The legislation creates a cascading framework of obligations that requires employers to accommodate remote work arrangements unless they can demonstrate specific, prescribed impacts that meet statutory thresholds.

Australian employers face expanded workplace incident reporting obligations under new notification laws that broaden the scope of reportable events to include extended absences, work-related self-harm, violent incidents, and an enhanced definition of serious injuries. Understanding these changes and implementing robust tracking and reporting systems will be critical for compliance once states and territories adopt the amended model Work Health and Safety laws.

A major Australian union is pushing for over one million workers to gain adefault right to work from home.