WFH bill will create added WHS "complications", HIA warns

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has released a statement calling for the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill 2025 to be rejected, believing it would only add further regulatory pressure on small building businesses already struggling with rising costs and labour shortages.

“Flexible work arrangements can play an important role in supporting workforce participation, and the current laws already provide a clear and functioning framework for employers and employees to establish effective working from home arrangements,” said HIA Senior Executive Director Compliance & Workplace Relations Stuart Collins.

“Whilst there has been a lot of discussion around mandating work from home in recent months, these changes would create a blanket one-size-fits-all obligation that disregards the operational realities of many industries, including home building businesses, adding compliance pressure and complexity for employers.

“For housing construction, work from home mandates would be impractical as many roles in home building require work that must be done onsite. Supervising construction, managing trades and ensuring safety compliance simply can’t be done remotely.

“Mandating a broad right to work from home risks creating confusion, more disputes and extra compliance costs, particularly for small businesses.

“It would also create added work health and safety complications for employers, who remain responsible for workplace safety even when that workplace is someone’s home.

“Importantly, HIA’s position as set out in our recent submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment is broadly supported by the Productivity Commission, who have outlined similar concerns with this proposed legislation in their submission.

“The Productivity Commission (PC) submission states that ‘Australia appears to have arrived at a sensible middle ground’ and ‘... the need for a legislated right to work from home is not clear’.

“This position by the PC confirms what Australian business and workers already know: that further interference in negotiated and flexible employment arrangements risks significantly undermining productivity, employment choice and can lead to unfairness and inequity in the workplace.

“At a time when Australia faces a critical housing shortage, policy settings should support productivity and reduce regulatory imposts. Adding another layer of workplace regulation without clear evidence of a problem will only make it harder to focus on what matters most, building more homes for Australians,” Collins concluded.

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