Work From Home, Empty CBD? Hospitality’s Place in Victoria’s Office Debate

Work-from-home policy may be written for offices, but its lunchtime consequences land at café counters.

Victoria’s proposed work-from-home laws would give eligible employees a right to work from home for up to two days a week where doing so is reasonably feasible. The Equal Opportunity Amendment (Work from Home) Bill 2026 has passed the Legislative Assembly but remains at the second-reading stage in the Legislative Council.

The upper house referred the legislation to a committee, with its report due on 20 October. The government has reportedly ruled out adding an extra parliamentary sitting week before the 28 November state election, making passage before voters go to the polls unlikely.

That procedural pause does not end the wider hospitality debate.

The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association has argued strongly against the proposal. Chief executive Wes Lambert described it as a potential “nail in the coffin” for small businesses affected by lower CBD foot traffic.

This reaction may seem a little over the top, however the industry is seeing this as a real threat, and the concern behind it is real. Office workers buy coffees, lunches and after-work drinks. When fewer people commute, businesses built around weekday trade can feel the change quickly, particularly those paying CBD rents.

Working from home is not the only factor shaping city hospitality. Cost-of-living pressure, transport, changing office occupancy, competition and customer habits all influence trade. Nor does every venue depend on office workers to the same extent.

The useful question is therefore larger than whether employees should be at home or at their desks. It is how city venues respond when the rhythm of the working week changes.

Some operators may need to shorten quiet-day trading hours, strengthen catering and delivery, or place more emphasis on the busy Tuesday-to-Thursday window. Others may create reasons to visit beyond convenience, better evening offers, events, loyalty programs or menus that attract residents as well as commuters.

Governments considering workplace policy should take its effects on surrounding small businesses seriously. Hospitality operators, meanwhile, cannot base their entire future on the hope that every office will return to its 2019 routine.

The bill may be delayed, but the shift in working habits is already well under way. The office week may never return to its old shape; the stronger venues will decide what fills the gap.