Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Greens stand with workers.

In the 47th Parliament, we achieved real, concrete improvements for workers, including the right to disconnect and the criminalisation of superannuation theft.

Now we're introducing a statutory right for employees to request to work from home for up to two days per week.

This is a strong measure that has been sorely lacking from this Government's minimal industrial relations agenda.

At a time when insecure work is widespread, the real value of wages is under pressure, and nothing is in the way of employers pocketing the productivity benefits of artificial intelligence while returning little if nothing to workers, it is not enough to merely hold the line.

Workers deserve stronger and expanded protections in a changing labour market and economy.

Labor has an opportunity this Parliament to work with the Greens not just to protect existing entitlements but to enshrine new rights for workers.

The first step would be supporting a Greens' right to request to work from home for at least 2 days a week where reasonable.

This Bill recognises that flexible working arrangements have become an essential feature of modern workplaces and that reasonable access to remote work can improve productivity, inclusion, and work-life balance without undermining business needs.

It would maintain safeguards for employers where such arrangements are impractical or impossible due to the inherent requirements of the role.

But for millions of workers flexible work arrangements, such as the ability to work from home, have enabled them, many of them women, to balance care responsibilities with paid work.

Legislating the right to work from home, where it is sensible and doable, will not only protect women's access to the labour market and economic equality gains, it will also increase workforce participation and ultimately boost productivity.

It gives families time, reduces costs, and cuts emissions.

A few months ago, I moved amendments to the Fair Work Act calling upon the government to legislate a right to work from home for up to two days a week where it is reasonable to do so.

Now, I'm introducing a Private Senator's Bill to do just that.

We have the numbers to deliver this improvement for all workers in Australia.

All that is standing in the way is Labor's lack of ambition.

Work from home rights in Australia are long overdue.

There is wide public support and very strong demand for this change. Its benefits stack up for employers and for employees.

Australian workers are doing it tough. They are on average contributing six weeks of unpaid overtime a year to their workplace. They are raising kids, battling the cost of living, and have adopted all kinds of productivity-enhancing technology over the last 20 years.

For many Australian workers, talking about productivity sounds like yet another push from their bosses to work faster and harder. In fact, in the last 10 years we've seen the rate of profit increase at twice the rate of wages, despite all the adaptation that Australian workers and their families have done.

The pandemic showed us that new ways of working are possible. Up to 40 per cent of Australian workers transferred to working from home during COVID-19. We saw that many of us can do our jobs from home, saving money and time and getting the flexibility which, in the words of the Productivity Commission, has been fundamentally positive in unlocking value to be shared between workers and their firms.

The work from home trend has outlived the pandemic. The old rhythms of eight-to-four or nine-to-five in a central workplace are no longer the reality for millions of Australians.

Public opinion polls and extensive research on work from home show us there is strong support and positive benefits to come from it. Most workers know they are at least as productive at home as they are in the workplace, and many of their employers agree. Most workers want a hybrid model, where they work some days at home.

The evidence tells us that the average cut in their commuting time is more than an hour a day, and there's research that shows that workers split this saving with their employer—half to the employer and half to themselves—as they increase their working time and add to their personal rest and recreation.

Working from home is one way in which we can share the benefits of work between workers and their employers more fairly. Many Australians are already doing it, and many more want to.

The latest surveys tell us that two-thirds of Australian workers want hybrid work in their organisation. Workers say that 60 per cent of their bosses permit hybrid working arrangements.

With most workers covered by the national Fair Work Act, the Greens want to see a sensible national approach. One state can't do this and reach workers outside state and local government. Our workplaces are mostly regulated at that national level through the Fair Work Act, which means a national law, a national approach, on working from home makes sense.

And women shouldn't have to give up their careers to have a family. By improving work from home rights, we're protecting women's rights to work while caring for their families.

This isn't just a win for women, carers, workers and families, it's a win for our economy.

There is a substantial evidence base behind this Bill.

This Bill would expand the right to request flexible working arrangements under the Fair Work Act. Previously, only certain employees with care, disability, or age-related circumstances could request flexible work. Now, all employees may request changes, thus expanding the right universally.

This Bill would also define a new category of request, a "work from home up to 2 days request".

It would require employers to consider, before refusing such a request, reasonable adjustments that could accommodate the request.

The Bill has safeguards for employers, as it would limit refusal to cases where the arrangement would make performance of the role's inherent requirements impractical or impossible.

It would also provide powers for the Fair Work Commission to review refusals and to make binding determinations, and would ensure consistent procedural requirements for handling requests and disputes.

In summary, this Bill would give Australians the legal right to work from home at least two days a week where it is practical and reasonable.

Australia must have a fair and equitable workplace relations system that upholds the rights of all working people.

It's time for the Albanese government to deliver on a more ambitious set of reforms that will address the current circumstances and real experiences of Australian workers in our diverse households and workplaces.

It's time to reimagine what a fair workplace looks like.

I urge the government to support this Bill that would make workplaces more inclusive, particularly for women, carers, and disabled people.

The world of work has changed. Our laws must change with it.

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.