1 October, 2025 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Residents from Melbourne’s outer western suburbs have participated on mass in the state survey on Victoria’s work-from-home laws.
David Ettershank MP said given the poor roads and dire lack of public transport in the outer west, this is ‘hardly surprising’.
Nearly 20,000 Victorians completed the ‘Have Your Say: Working From Home’ survey. Three of the top four postcodes were in Melbourne’s outer west. Point Cook was the suburb with the most survey respondents, Truganina came in second and Wyndham Vale rated fourth.
Engagement Victoria reported that the survey set records as one of the biggest state-run online consultations.
More than 1,000 responses were received in the first two hours of the consultation, with 5,000 responses received by the end of the first day. The Engage Victoria platform averaged eight to nine submissions per minute.
“When I look at these numbers, it tells me that people in the outer west of Melbourne are fed up with being stuck in traffic, trapped in their car as they crawl through heavy traffic. No wonder they want to work from home,” Mr Ettershank said.
Infrastructure has not kept pace with growth in the West
Mr Ettershank, a member of Legalise Cannabis Victoria, said Melbourne’s west has the fastest growing population in Australia and yet infrastructure has not kept pace with growth.
“The results of the Working From Home survey tell me that residents of the west deserve the right to work from home some days. They also need upgraded roads and improved public transport,” he said.
“I support the Premier’s plans to develop legal protections for employees who want to work at least two days a week from home. The government intends to enshrine working from home rights into law next year before the next state election.
“But that is not a replacement for a decent Government investment in infrastructure in the west. People are fed up with crawling on roads for hours, waiting for buses that are infrequent, fail to appear or are miles from home or work.
“They also want transport systems that are clean, safe and integrated connecting efficiently to work, educational and retail centres.
“The west supports the right to work from home where reasonable, but that’s also no replacement for reasonable investment in the West.”
