TL;DR: A working from home policy sets the rules for doing work from home: who can, how to set up a safe workspace, when people are available, and how equipment and information are handled. In Australia, work health and safety duties still apply at home, and the right to disconnect shapes contact outside working hours.
Key takeaways
- Safe Work Australia states that a business must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they work from home.
- Workers are generally covered by workers’ compensation when working from home, and staff in another state may need different insurance.
- Since 26 August 2025, employees of small and large employers alike have the right to disconnect under the Fair Work Act.
- There is no general legal right to work from home under the Fair Work Act, although some employees can formally request it as a flexible working arrangement.
- Victoria has a bill before Parliament that would create a right to work from home two days a week, but it is not yet law.
What is in this policy template?
The sample policy defines the expectations, responsibilities, and guidelines for employees who work from home. It can also set out who is eligible, how to request working from home, and how requests are approved. Download it, then adapt it to your roles, your safety process, and the states your people work in.
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How to adapt the sample
Decide first which roles can work from home and on what pattern, because the rest of the policy follows from that. Then add your own safety checklist, equipment rules, and contact hours. Finally, check it against any award or agreement that covers your people, and have it reviewed by someone qualified.
What is a working from home policy?
A working from home policy is a written set of rules for employees who do some or all of their work from home. It covers eligibility, how arrangements are requested and approved, safety at the home workspace, availability and communication, equipment and costs, and information security. It complements office work rather than replacing the rest of your policies.
A working from home policy is about how home-based work runs day to day. By contrast, a flexible work arrangements policy deals with how employees request changes to their hours, patterns, or location. That includes the formal request process in the Fair Work Act. Many organisations keep both, and the sample flexible work arrangements policy covers the request side in detail.
Suppose a manager approves three days a week at home for a team member. The flexible work policy governs how that decision was made. The working from home policy then governs what happens on those three days: the workstation check, the hours the person is reachable, and how they report an injury.
Do work health and safety duties apply when people work from home?
Yes. Safe Work Australia states that a business must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they work from home. The duty applies even when the worker asked to work from home. Workers also have duties, including taking reasonable care and following reasonable safety instructions and policies.
Safe Work Australia lists common hazards at home, including poor workstation set-up, a poor working environment, sedentary work, and trip hazards. It also lists psychosocial hazards, fatigue from being always on, family and domestic violence, and difficulty getting help. You manage them with the usual four steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control them, and review the controls.
Consultation matters more at home than in the office. According to Safe Work Australia, workers will often be the only person aware of the risks in their home working environment. So the policy should ask each worker to complete a workspace checklist, report hazards, and tell you when their set-up changes. Most states and territories apply the model WHS laws, while Victoria applies its own occupational health and safety laws. So check the regulator in each state where your people work.
Are employees covered by workers’ compensation at home?
Generally, yes. Safe Work Australia says workers are generally covered for workers’ compensation when working from home, including during ordinary breaks. Employers must have workers’ compensation insurance wherever their workers are working. Workers who usually work in a different state or territory will often need different insurance, so check with the authority where each worker is based.
How does the right to disconnect apply to working from home?
The right to disconnect lets employees refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact outside their working hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable. It has applied to employees of larger employers since 26 August 2024 and to small business employees since 26 August 2025. It does not make out-of-hours contact unlawful.
Working from home blurs the line between work and home, which is why the policy should set clear contact expectations. According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, whether a refusal is unreasonable depends on several factors. These include the reason for the contact, how disruptive it is, and whether the employee is paid to be available. The employee’s role, level of responsibility, and personal circumstances such as caring duties also count.
Every modern award now includes a right to disconnect clause, and some set rules about on-call contact. In practice, the policy should state core hours, how urgent issues are escalated, and which roles carry on-call duties. It should also say that people working from home are not expected to answer messages simply because their laptop is nearby.
Can employees insist on working from home?
Under federal law there is no general right to work from home. However, eligible employees can formally request to change where they work, and the employer must respond in writing within 21 days. Victoria is also considering a broader right, and the Fair Work Commission has decided to add a working from home term to the Clerks Award.
The flexible working rules apply to employees with at least 12 months of service who meet a listed circumstance. Examples include caring for a school-aged child, having a disability, or being 55 or older. A flexible work arrangements policy sets out that process, so the working from home policy can simply point to it.
Two developments are worth watching closely this year. First, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 was introduced on 16 June 2026. If passed, it would give eligible Victorian employees a right to work from home two days a week where reasonable. It is not yet in force. Second, on 27 August 2026 a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission decided to add a working from home provision to the Clerks Private Sector Award 2020. It then published a draft determination for comment. Check the status of both before you finalise a policy that covers clerical staff or Victorian employees.
What should a working from home policy include?
A working from home policy should include eligibility and approval, the work pattern, and contact hours. It also needs a workspace safety checklist, incident reporting, and rules on equipment and expenses. Finally, it should cover information security and how the arrangement is reviewed or ended. Each section should be clear enough to apply without asking HR.
Check the sample against this list:
- Eligibility and approval: which roles qualify, who approves, and how the decision is recorded.
- Work pattern: the days at home, the days on site, and how changes are agreed.
- Hours and contact: core hours, response expectations, and how the right to disconnect applies.
- Safety: a workstation and environment checklist, completed before starting and after any move.
- Incidents: how to report an injury or near miss at home, and to whom.
- Equipment and costs: what the employer supplies, who maintains it, and what happens to it when the person leaves.
- Information security: secure networks, screen privacy, and handling of printed documents.
- Review: when the arrangement is reviewed and how either side can end it.
Monitoring home-based staff needs particular care. Workplace surveillance and privacy rules differ between states, so check the law in each state before you track devices or activity. The sample workplace surveillance policy is a useful companion.
When is a working from home template not enough?
A working from home template is not enough when hundreds of people work from home on different patterns across several states. It also falls short when you cannot see who has completed a workspace check or acknowledged the policy. At that point the risk is evidence: showing what you did to meet your safety duty for each person.
For a small team, an adapted template and a shared checklist can work well. However, a larger organisation usually needs each worker’s checklist, policy acknowledgement, and approval stored against their record, with reminders when something is due. For background on managing hybrid teams, see how to manage a hybrid workforce.
Worknice is one option for Australian organisations of 200 to 5,000 employees that want to send policies for acknowledgement and assign forms, such as a workspace checklist, through workflows. Its focus is HR records, paperwork, and workflows, so an organisation that wants rostering and time tracking in the same product may prefer a workforce management platform.
Why are we giving it away for free?
Worknice is a software platform that helps you focus your time and energy on people, rather than process. This downloadable template is a pdf or editable document. So while the content is great, it does not come to life with technology features like automations, workflows, auto-updates, electronic sign-offs, integration and more.
Frequently asked questions
Do WHS laws apply when employees work from home?
Yes. Safe Work Australia states that a business must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they work from home, even when the worker asked to. That means identifying hazards, assessing and controlling risks, and consulting workers. Workers must also take reasonable care and follow reasonable safety instructions.
Is an employer responsible for injuries when working from home?
Generally, yes. Safe Work Australia says workers are generally covered by workers’ compensation when working from home, including during ordinary breaks. Employers also keep their health and safety duties at home. Each claim is assessed on its facts, so contact the workers’ compensation authority in the relevant state or territory for specific advice.
Can an employer refuse a request to work from home?
Yes, in most cases it can. There is no general right to work from home under federal law. If an eligible employee makes a formal flexible working request, the employer must respond in writing within 21 days. It can refuse only on reasonable business grounds, after discussing the request and genuinely trying to agree on alternatives.
Does the right to disconnect apply to employees working from home?
Yes. The right to disconnect applies to employees wherever they work, including at home. Employees can refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact outside their working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable. A working from home policy should set clear contact hours and explain how urgent issues are escalated.
Is there a legal right to work from home in Victoria?
No, not yet. A bill to give eligible Victorian employees a right to work from home two days a week, where reasonable, was introduced on 16 June 2026. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says it is before Parliament and not yet in force. Its provisions may still change before it passes.
Related reading
- When is it okay to refuse a request to work from home?
- Sample flexible work arrangements policy
- Sample health and safety policy
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. “Working from home: WHS duties.” Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/working-home/whs-duties
- Safe Work Australia. “Working from home: Managing risks.” Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/working-home/managing-risks
- Safe Work Australia. “Working from home: Workers’ compensation.” Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/working-home/workers-compensation
- Safe Work Australia. “Legislation.” Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/law-and-regulation/legislation
- Fair Work Ombudsman. “Right to disconnect.” Last updated 18 June 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/hours-of-work-breaks-and-rosters/right-to-disconnect
- Fair Work Ombudsman. “Flexible working arrangements.” Last updated 10 August 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/flexibility-in-the-workplace/flexible-working-arrangements
- Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. “Work from home.” Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/about-us/work-from-home/
- Fair Work Commission. “Working from home: Clerks Award decision issued.” 27 August 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026. https://www.fwc.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/news/working-home-clerks-award-decision-issued
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