Every worker deserves to be safe at work and while the intention behind the Victorian Government's Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2026 is commendable, it will not create safer communities.
Introduced to Parliament yesterday, the bill would allow exclusion orders to be made against people who have, "engaged in unacceptable conduct" - banning them from specific workplaces including shops, hospitality venues and public transport.
Community legal centres are concerned that these orders will fall hardest on people who are homeless, in mental health crisis, or living with disability, and on Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who are already over-policed in these very spaces.
We all want workers to be safer, so we need to invest in what works.
That means mental health supports, alcohol and other drug services, disability support and implementing a response which safely de-escalates a person in crisis, support referrals and create safety instead of leaving it to a retail or transport worker.
Quotes attributable to Federation of Community Legal Centres CEO Lousia Gibbs:
"The Workplace Protection Orders Bill has good intentions, but it will not result in a safer environment for all Victorians.
"It is a response only after the harm to workers has already been done.
"It punishes instead of supports, leaving the causes of unsafe behaviour untouched.
"The 'unacceptable behaviour' threshold in this bill is drawn too broadly and will capture people having a single bad day, people in crisis, people who raise their voice, rather than targeting those who pose a genuine threat to worker safety.
"If you simply ban a person in crisis from one tram, it doesn't actually fix the problem - it just moves it to the next stop down the line.
"Keeping workers safe requires investing in support, security and de-escalation, not handing out exclusion orders and criminal records."
