Melbourne's WFH Debate: Where Are We Sitting?

Melbourne, a city once defined by its bustling CBD, is grappling with the permanent shift to hybrid work. The 'where' and 'how' of working are now central to both professional and public life.

What's Working: For individual employees, the benefits have been a significant boost to well-being and finances. Flexibility is the undisputed champion—it has slashed exhausting and expensive commute times, saving employees an estimated over $5,000 annually on transport and associated costs. Critically, it has significantly boosted work-life balance, particularly for working parents, carers, and people with disabilities, leading to increased workforce participation overall. Furthermore, many report higher productivity for tasks requiring deep focus away from the constant distractions of an open-plan office.

What's Not: The economic ripple effect remains a major sticking point. Empty or underutilised office towers threaten the viability of the CBD's ecosystem, from small cafes to dry cleaners.

For businesses, major concerns centre on preserving workplace culture, fostering spontaneous innovation, and providing vital in-person mentoring for junior staff. The lack of organic interactions is hard to replicate virtually. Furthermore, not all jobs can be done remotely, creating a potential 'two-tiered' workforce with unequal access to flexibility.

The Legislative Shift: The most significant development is the proposed legislation by the Victorian Government to establish a legal 'right to work from home' for employees for a minimum of two days a week, provided the job can reasonably accommodate it. This move is designed to lock in flexibility gained during the pandemic. However, the proposal is highly controversial. While unions and employee advocates strongly support it as a necessary protection, business groups have mounted strong opposition, labelling it an unnecessary regulatory burden that hampers their ability to manage staff and maintain competitiveness. They argue that the future of work arrangements should be decided bilaterally between employers and employees. We have a feeling this topic is not going away anytime soon and will be a bone of contention regardless of the outcome!

If you search the internet, there are pages full of information on this topic, but here is an interesting article put out by the Premier in August 2025 https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/work-home-works-families