The protection of working remotely is debated in Australia, with unions advocating changes to law, ethics and legal services to enforce the rights of clerical workers.

The Australian Services Union (ASU), which is Australia's biggest white-collar union, is demanding greater protections by law, ethics and legal services to protect the ability of clerical workers to work at home unless the employer can support business reasons. It has been proposed to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to be implemented so as to update the reality of clerical awards to the reality of post-pandemic work.

The ASU demands that the presumption be legally inscribed in favor of remote work that can only be rejected for reasonable business-related reasons. This project might have a legal precedent in the greater concept of law, ethics & legal services that may be extended to the other spheres.

By contrast, the Ai Group is promoting contractual agreements and does not want to extend such industry-standard benefits as penalty rates to flexible working practices. The federal government is increasingly anticipating the enactment of the national right to work-at-home.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers endorses the consensus model at the workplace level, where the focus is on flexibility, the way to creating a modern economy. Nevertheless, a conflict between trade unions and companies points to a gap in the understanding of employee rights among law, ethics and legal services.

As the issue remains on the list to be discussed during future federal promotive talks, we can expect decisions casting light on the future of remote work in Australia in the months to come.