[ The law ]
What Victoria's work from home law actually says
The right to work from home starts on 1 September. Here is what it covers, who it applies to, and what it asks of your employer.
2 July 2026
From 1 September 2026, working from home becomes a legal right in Victoria rather than a favour your manager grants. That is a real shift. A right you can point to changes the conversation about the room you work in.
The short version: eligible employees can request to work from home, and an employer has to have a fair reason to refuse rather than a preference. The law also contemplates employers meeting reasonable costs of working from home. That last phrase is the one worth understanding, because it is where your desk sits.
What it does not do is hand you a blank cheque. Reasonable is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and it will mean different things at a law firm and a startup. But the direction is clear: if the company expects the work to happen at your place, the company has some interest in where that work happens.
The practical read for most people: the room stops being a personal indulgence and starts being infrastructure. That is the whole reason we build what we build.
General information only, not legal or financial advice. Check your own circumstances.