David Alexander interview on 3AW about Victoria's WFH legislation
Transcript: 18 June 2026
Tom Elliott:
Our next guest is the Chief of Policy at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry David Alexander, Good morning
David Alexander:
Hi, Tom.
Tom Elliott:
Well, as I said, every day I find out more about this legislation because every day they're releasing more. So firstly, if someone demands to work from home, it looks like bosses or employers might have to pay for all the equipment they need. So a desk, a chair, a bigger screen, maybe a better telephone, that sort of thing. Does that seem right to you?
David Alexander:
It's ridiculous, Tom. Even to say it is to highlight the ridiculousness, yes. So employers are not only forced to offer, provide work from home arrangements, but then paying as well for all sorts of follow-on consequences. These sorts of things, it could be computers, laptops, iPads, phones, new or upgrades, internet connections, desks, chairs, stationery fit out. So it's a second round impact on businesses that they just can't bear. It's effectively forcing businesses to set up two workplaces for every employee, one at work and one at home. It's yet another burden for business to bear. It's going to, again, drag down productivity.
Tom Elliott:
So I'm working from home as we speak because I've just come out of hospital and I'm not very mobile yet. And that's something I've negotiated with my employer. And once it ends in a couple of weeks, that's it. I'll be back in the office. There's no doubt about that. But I mean, for example, under this legislation, does my home workspace count as part of the office and therefore if there's something non-compliant about it or if the floor is a bit slippery or something like that, is my employer potentially liable for that?
David Alexander:
Well, this is where it's a legal quagmire. It's going to be enormously difficult for employers to work out the consequences of this, the time, the cost, the liabilities, the dispute resolution processes, even insurance. What are you obliged to provide for those employees that take up that provision? So there are just so many follow on consequences for this that haven't been thought through.
Tom Elliott:
Okay. And what about you talked about dispute resolution that now normally when it's a workplace like a federal workplace issue, you go to the Fair Work Commission and that's how unions and bosses and things negotiate pay and awards and so forth. But here, because it's being flagged as a human right, it's not an industrial relations issue, it's a human rights issue. And it might seem that disputes will end up in front of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Now, I mean, is that body set up to try and arbitrate on who can work from home and who cannot?
David Alexander:
Well, again, Tom, this is new ground that will be very worrying for business to be expected to face up to this brand new tribunal, which doesn't have any track record or expertise in this matter. So the range of different tribunals that they're potentially going to have to face, that's a nightmare for businesses. The last thing they want to have to think about, businesses want to set up their businesses and the presumption should be that they have the right to determine where your staff are sited. You're the one that's investing in the business and that's the way you're going to maximise productivity is to allow the business owner to determine their own arrangements. Lots of business owners already offer work from home already. Some offer hybrid arrangements, others have their staff on site. Let them decide. When you force them into this arrangement, by definition, it's going to be forcing them into what they don't want to do.
It's a suboptimal outcome for them. So it's necessarily going to diminish productivity for that firm and the broader Victorian economy.
Tom Elliott:
Well, just on that final question, I mean, does this legislation or will this legislation make Victoria a less attractive place in which to do business?
David Alexander:
Yes, of course. So when we look at the national perspective, there's a lot of national businesses that have branches in Victoria and they're very concerned about this awful policy dragging them down nationally. And for those Victorian businesses, it's yet another burden on them that they'll be thinking, "Is it worth carrying on here? Should I be shifting interstate where the conditions are more conducive?" So the signal that sends to the business community is a very negative one. It's the reverse direction to where things should be going.
Tom Elliott:
All right. Thank you for your time. That's David Alexander there from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.