{"id":81565,"date":"2026-08-27T10:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/81565\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T10:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:31:33","slug":"business-groups-slam-carroll-over-rushed-wfh-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/81565\/","title":{"rendered":"Business groups slam Carroll over rushed WFH legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victoria\u2019s peak business groups have accused Ben Carroll <\/a>of leaving them \u201cin the dark\u201d and rushing work from home laws through parliament, in a dramatic renewal of hostilities between employers and Labor.<\/p>\n

Just two weeks after the new Premier shelved the controversial legislation<\/a>, declaring his \u201cdoor will always be open to the business community\u201d, relations have erupted with five industry organisations issuing a joint statement slamming the government over WFH.<\/p>\n

The key business groups resumed their political offensive over the laws \u2013 enshrining the rights of staff to work from home two days a week \u2013 and believe the legislation will be listed for debate in parliament on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Business Council of Australia, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, Property Council of Australia and Housing Industry Association called for the bill to be abandoned in the joint statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply concerned that the Victorian government is set to rush through Jacinta Allan\u2019s work from home legislation this week without due consideration of business views,\u201d the groups stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is particularly so given the Premier\u2019s desire to reset the government\u2019s relationship with the business community. Following a constructive meeting with the Premier last week, we have been left in the dark with no answers from the government regarding our significant concerns.<\/p>\n

\u2018Legislation must be abandoned\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been very clear: this\u00a0legislation must be abandoned. If it proceeds, it will damage Victoria\u2019s economy, send jobs interstate and put investment at risk \u2013 and that means less opportunities for Victorians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Carroll government rejected claims it was rushing the legislation through parliament, said the business groups would not be blindsided and that the Premier remained committed to briefing industry leaders on amendments that were still being worked on.<\/p>\n

The business groups have grown increasingly frustrated by what they claim is a lack of detail and communication from Mr Carroll since last week\u2019s talks and believe his plan to delay WFH laws until July 1 next year and offer \u00adcarve-outs for small business doesn\u2019t go far enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Premier said he wanted a \u2018reset\u2019 with the business community and to \u2018grow the economy\u2019, given the dire economic situation in Victoria,\u201d the joint statement declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, a reset with business is impossible if this bill proceeds in any form. Victoria has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and at a time when households and businesses are under significant pressure, we believe Victoria cannot afford policies that take its economy backwards. This is precisely the wrong time to impose another rigid, costly and unnecessary layer of regulation on employers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should be \u00adfocused on attracting investment and creating jobs, not forcing through Jacinta Allan\u2019s legislation that will make it harder to employ people and run a business.<\/p>\n

\u2018Work with us\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Premier still has an opportunity to demonstrate that his commitment to a new economic approach is genuine. We call on the government to halt the bill and work with us on a new economic agenda to get the state back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

After toppling Ms Allan, Mr Carroll moved to mend relations with employers and delayed the state\u2019s work-from-home reforms until July next year. <\/p>\n

Saying he still supported working from home, Mr Carroll said he \u201cequally\u201d wanted to continue working with the business community to ensure the policy was right.<\/p>\n

The prospect of a compromise came after Property Council of Australia chief executive Mike Zorbas said the show of unity among the nation\u2019s major business groups reflected the seriousness of their concerns. \u201cThis bill, if it goes forward, is going to bomb business back into the Stone Age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s Victorian executive director, Cath Evans, said earlier this month the bill should be scrapped. \u201cVictorians already have access to flexible working arrangements under the existing federal workplace relations framework, which is why additional state-based regulation is simply not necessary,\u201d Ms Evans said.<\/p>\n

\"Damon<\/a>Damon Johnston<\/a>Melbourne Bureau Chief<\/p>\n

Damon Johnston has been a journalist for more than 35 years. Before joining The Australian as Victoria Editor in February 2020, Johnston was the editor of the Herald Sun – Australia’s biggest selling daily newspaper – from 2012 to 2019. From 2008 to 2012, Johnston was the editor of the Sunday Herald Sun. During his editorship of the Herald Sun, the newspaper broke the story of Lawyer X, Australia’s biggest police corruption scandal, which was recognised with major journalism awards in 2019. Between 2003 and 2008, Johnston held several senior editorial roles on the Herald Sun, including Chief-of-Staff and Deputy Editor. From 2000 to 2003, Johnston was the New York correspondent for News Corporation and covered major international events including the 9\/11 terrorist attacks on the city. After joining the Herald Sun in 1992, Johnston covered several rounds including industrial relations, transport and state politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria\u2019s peak business groups have accused Ben Carroll of leaving them \u201cin the dark\u201d and rushing work from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[129041,92372,42632,70023,129056,129033,50148,129025,129038,79924,129059,40699,129029,129063,129049,129037,90162,40577,129047,129040,115485,46291,36956,21187,129065,46057,129034,57392,22,23,44491,12131,21,12688,129050,129039,323,30136,12434,129060,68063,129026,90182,129035,3352,22074,129053,129048,39751,45424,129024,129043,129064,45551,57840,42391,52,83195,83182,55544,107834,33372,129058,10207,48603,1646,15705,32258,129032,90802,39087,37392,129042,57807,45109,83185,47236,41690,129028,129051,129036,3218,7350,17611,86723,18110,6499,1392,118517,129030,40829,129046,111579,4318,7738,112919,57704,129054,129044,72823,129052,67064,129027,40922,129031,23380,80300,90176,129066,56607,59454,36847,68044,38346,3336,70640,44662,39272,37964,129057,46716,52529,129061,83250,59620,38964,129055,33333,50954,44835,68,129045,79156,45275,83172,129023,129022,17331,129062],"class_list":["post-81565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-reset","tag-s-desire","tag-s-economy","tag-s-legislation","tag-s-major-business-groups","tag-s-peak-business-groups","tag-s-relationship","tag-s-talks","tag-s-victorian-executive-director","tag-s-work","tag-s-work-from-home-reforms","tag-amendments","tag-a-business-work","tag-a-compromise","tag-a-constructive-meeting","tag-a-dramatic-renewal","tag-a-joint-statement","tag-a-lack","tag-a-new-economic-agenda","tag-a-new-economic-approach","tag-a-reset","tag-a-time","tag-a-week","tag-access","tag-additional-state-based-regulation","tag-an-opportunity","tag-another-rigid","tag-any-form","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-chief-executive-mike-zorbas","tag-australian-industry-group","tag-austrlia","tag-ben-carroll","tag-bomb-business","tag-briefing-industry-leaders","tag-business","tag-business-council","tag-business-groups","tag-business-views","tag-carroll","tag-cath-evans","tag-commerce-and-industry","tag-costly-and-unnecessary-layer","tag-council","tag-debate","tag-detail-and-communication","tag-due-consideration","tag-earlier-this-month","tag-employers","tag-employers-and-labor","tag-five-industry-organisations","tag-flexible-working-arrangements","tag-his-commitment","tag-his-door","tag-his-plan","tag-home","tag-home-laws","tag-home-legislation","tag-hostilities","tag-households-and-businesses","tag-housing-industry-association","tag-industry-groups","tag-investment","tag-its-economy","tag-jacinta-allan","tag-jobs","tag-july-1","tag-july-next-year","tag-just-two-weeks","tag-just-weeks","tag-last-week","tag-less-opportunities","tag-mr-carroll","tag-ms-allan","tag-ms-evans","tag-next-year","tag-no-answers","tag-offer-carve-outs","tag-on-the-business-groups","tag-our-significant-concerns-legislation","tag-parliament","tag-people","tag-policies","tag-precisely-the-wrong-time","tag-property-council","tag-prospect","tag-regulation","tag-relations","tag-right-the","tag-risk","tag-rushed-work-from-home-laws","tag-significant-pressure","tag-small-business","tag-staff","tag-tatters","tag-the-bill","tag-the-business-community","tag-the-business-groups","tag-the-carroll-government","tag-the-controversial-legislation","tag-the-dark","tag-the-dire-economic-situation","tag-the-economy","tag-the-existing-federal-workplace-relations-framework","tag-the-government","tag-the-groups","tag-the-highest-unemployment-rate","tag-the-joint-statement","tag-the-laws","tag-the-legislation","tag-the-nation","tag-the-new-premier","tag-the-policy","tag-the-premier","tag-the-rights","tag-the-seriousness","tag-the-show","tag-the-state","tag-the-stone-age","tag-the-victorian-government","tag-their-concerns","tag-their-political-offensive","tag-this-bill","tag-this-legislation","tag-this-week","tag-thursday-the","tag-track","tag-two-days","tag-unity","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-chamber","tag-victorian-premier-ben-carroll","tag-victorians","tag-wfh-laws","tag-wfh-limbo","tag-wfh-the-key-business-groups","tag-work","tag-work-from-home-laws"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/w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