The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee held a public hearing into the Greens' Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill 2025, in Canberra today. The committee heard evidence that our Bill would put commuting savings in workers' pockets in a cost of living crisis and give stressed households more time for family and life. This right would strengthen the bargaining power of insecure and lower paid workers, improve work-life balance and give workers greater control over where and how they work.
Evidence to the committee today showed:
- Working from home (WFH) is broadly accepted across the workforce in Australia. However, access to WFH for those who can perform their jobs at home is uneven:
- Two-thirds (66%) of employees surveyed have access to WFH to some extent and 52% are currently doing so.
- 18% do not currently WFH but want to.
- 32% of those with some access or interest want to WFH more often.
- While most requests to WFH are approved, women are disproportionately affected by refusals:
- Female employees are 7.3 times more likely than male employees to have a WFH request refused (4.4% compared with 0.6%).
- Women are more likely to identify household management as a benefit of WFH (52% compared with 39% of men).
- WFH delivers substantial benefits for employees and facilitates women's economic participation by helping employees balance work and care.
- Among employees with access to WFH, 86% said it improved their work-life balance, 76% reported a positive impact on their mental health and 67% on their physical health.
- Employees identified time saved (60%), improved productivity/performance (50%) and financial savings (48%) as key benefits.
- Workers are gaining 3.4 hours a week and an extra $110 per week from WFH and reduced commuting times and WFH is driving a fairer share of domestic work.
- Australia's existing industrial relations framework does not provide sufficient certainty for workers to access WFH where it is possible to do so. Employees in positions of power are more likely to access WFH whereas those lower in the workplace hierarchy - often women and low paid workers - are least likely to access WFH. Legislating the right to WFH would allow more equal access across workplaces.
As stated by Greens spokesperson for finance, workplace and employment and Senator for South Australia, Barbara Pocock:
"Today's inquiry showed overwhelming evidence in support of the Greens' bill to allow the right to work from home at least two days a week for all kinds of workers, regardless of caring responsibilities.
"The ability to work from home has many benefits, not only for women and carers - it also reduces the time spent on commuting, improves work-life balance, increases mental and physical wellbeing, and boosts workforce participation and productivity.
"Savings of $110 a week from not commuting for a few days is huge for households facing consistent interest rate or rent hikes, and rising fuel and grocery prices while their real wages go backwards.
"Working from home should be a fair and enforceable right, it should not depend on an employer's discretion. Where work can reasonably be performed from home, workers should have a right to access flexible working arrangements.
"Flexible working arrangements are an essential feature of our modern workplaces. There is widespread support from workers, their families and from researchers and unions who back flexible work arrangements. Two-thirds of Australians support the right to work from home, including 75% of Labor voters and 51% of Coalition voters.
"It blows my mind that despite overwhelming evidence showing the benefits of the right to work from home, Labor, the Coalition and One Nation continue to vote against it in parliament. They are all talk and no action for working people.
"The Greens' Bill would strengthen workers' bargaining power, improve work-life balance and give workers greater control over where and how they work.
"The right to request work from home should be available whether you are a carer or not. All workers should have the opportunity to ask and there should be a fair process and tribunal backup if there is a dispute.
"In the same way that the Greens worked with Labor to establish the very successful Right to Disconnect, we want to work together to establish a reasonable right to work from home that will increase productivity and flexibility in workplaces.
"Given that most workers in Australia are covered by federal workplace law, it makes practical sense to embed this right at the national level. We need a sensible, national approach."
