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September 8, 2026 \u2014 5:30am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Blistering legal advice from two barristers will underpin a High Court challenge to Victoria\u2019s working-from-home laws from state business groups, as several of the country\u2019s largest property companies are highly critical of Labor\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n Premier Ben Carroll is looking to pass the bill \u2013 which will permit most employees the right to work from home two days a week \u2013 in parliament this week with some pro-business amendments. However, business groups have again said they are prepared to launch a legal challenge if the bill passes before the state election in November.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that there will be a constitutional challenge by employer groups to this legislation if it goes ahead, and we fully expect that it will be a very strong and likely successful challenge,\u201d said Tim Piper, chair of the Victorian Congress of Employer Associations and Victorian head of the Australian Industry group.<\/p>\n Piper said he had been approached by \u201cmany companies\u201d inquiring and offering to resource a constitutional challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a duty to our members to make sure that legislation passed in Victoria is constitutionally valid and economically reasonable. This one is neither.\u201d<\/p>\n Carroll said that flexible work \u201cattracts the best talent in Victoria, and it gets women back in the workforce\u201d.<\/p>\n The premier also said that while the government had heard the message that \u201cwork from home works\u201d loud and clear, he acknowledged that \u201claws need to work for business, too, because the reality is if it\u2019s not practical for employers, the law won\u2019t last\u201d.<\/p>\n The High Court threat comes as independent legal advice given to the Property Council of Victoria suggests the bill is probably unconstitutional and would be ineffective if it passed parliament.<\/p>\n Lawyers Nick Wood, SC, and Leigh Howard on Monday said Labor\u2019s plan to amend Victoria\u2019s anti-discrimination laws to enshrine working from home as a protected attribute alongside race, sexuality and gender clashed with the federal Fair Work Act. The Constitution states that when a state law is inconsistent with a federal law, it becomes invalid.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our view, the WFH Bill is inconsistent with the Fair Work Act, and will therefore be inoperative if it is enacted,\u201d the lawyers advised the Property Council.<\/p>\n \u201cThere would be no question of whether or not part of the WFH Bill is able to be preserved; the entire scheme that is established by the WFH Bill would be inoperative.\u201d<\/p>\n They also said there were multiple red flags in the bill, including that it would create a potentially unfair, two-tiered system for workers. Their full legal advice was not provided to The Age and is commercial in confidence pending a High Court challenge.<\/p>\n Property Council Victoria executive director Cath Evans said Wood and Howard\u2019s findings should prompt the government to re-think its policy.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick \u201cOn the basis of the legal advice we have received, the Victorian public is being sold a very costly lemon,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has a choice: listen to the legal concerns, withdraw the bill and give businesses certainty, or push ahead with legislation that could create prolonged costly legal challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Legal experts have previously cast doubt<\/a> over whether the proposed working-from-home law would interfere with federal industrial relations powers and leave it vulnerable to a High Court challenge.<\/p>\n Businesses have also repeatedly challenged Carroll\u2019s assertion that the bill would attract talent into the state, and instead say it would push jobs and investment out.<\/p>\n Peter Menegazzo, chief executive of real estate investment manager Investa, said on Monday that the legislation was already deterring investors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state government\u2019s working-from-home legislation is not going away … so, Melbourne is just not a buy for us at the moment,\u201d he told The Australian Financial Review Property Summit.<\/p>\n If the bill passes parliament, it would apply to full-time employees, as well as part-time and regularly employed casuals on a pro rata basis. Employers would also be compelled to pay \u201creasonable costs\u201d to enable their staff to work remotely.<\/p>\n Business groups have discussed a number of amendments with the government, but remain overall opposed to the legislation.<\/p>\n Possible amendments include broadening the grounds on which businesses can refuse a working-from-home arrangement, strengthen employers\u2019 ability to manage OH&S obligations, tighten the definition of reasonable employer costs, and give the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission powers to dismiss frivolous complaints from employees.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman plans to refer the bill to a parliamentary committee, which would delay the legislation until the next term of government. However, it is not clear if Bourman has sufficient support from MPs in the upper house to follow through on his plan.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Employer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3ba22cd58116624dedb6c577b46f1ee18424e753.jpeg\")
Employer groups are threatening to launch a High Court challenge against Labor\u2019s working-from-home bill.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/8a57e75b38e9b40ccf0f29a46fa435ef4d5ce717.jpeg\")
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Angus Delaney<\/a> is a state political reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 8, 2026 \u2014 5:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-883736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}