2026-08-24
The Victorian Greens have slammed the New Premier for delaying Labor’s promised work-from-home rights by at least 10 months, accusing the new Premier of capitulating to big business just weeks into the job.
The legislation was going to pass Parliament this week and take effect from September. Instead, following an eleventh-hour lobbying blitz from big business groups and the property lobby, the Premier has announced that WFH rights will not begin until at least July 2027 and has opened the door to watering them down.
The Greens say the backflip means workers - particularly women, carers and disabled people who stand to benefit most from flexible work - will now be forced to wait another 10 months for rights they fought for and were promised. The delay comes during a year of extraordinary industrial action in Victoria, with teachers, education support staff, nurses and other workers taking action after years of being underpaid, overworked and taken for granted by Labor
Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell said Labor’s new Premier had wasted no time showing working people whose side he was on. The new Premier is on the side of big business, not the side of workers.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell:
“The New Premier has barely moved into his new office and he’s already crumbling to big business and their tantrums.
“Workers were weeks away from finally getting these hard-earned rights. Then the corporate lobby came knocking and the new Labor Premier rolled over.
“Women, carers and disabled people might now be forced back into commuting full-time for at least another 10 months because the new Premier has decided keeping big business happy matters more than making working people’s lives easier.
“Who does the new Labor Premier work for - when big business gets a direct line to the Premier and working people get told to wait.”
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens Workers Rights spokesperson Aiv Puglielli:
“It’s becoming pretty clear the new Premier doesn’t actually believe in working from home or appreciate how important it is to so many Victorians.
“After an unprecedented year of industrial action, you’d think Labor might have got the message that Victorian workers are sick of being underpaid, overworked and taken for granted. Instead, one of the new Premier’s first moves is to delay their rights.
“And let’s be clear: the business lobby isn’t satisfied with a delay. They want these rights gutted altogether. Labor has just handed them another 10 months to lobby for exactly that.
“The Greens will fight to get WFH rights passed without delay and without them being watered down. If you want a party that will stand up to big business and fight for working people, it’s the Greens.”