Workplace Responsibilities, Positive Duty & Working from Home
Did you know that you have OH&S responsibilities for staff even when they’re working from home?
Have you ever thought about what this might mean for employees who are experiencing family & domestic violence?
If you answered no, you’re not alone. There are constant changes to employers responsibilities that can be difficult to stay on top of.
The Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 came into effect on 1 December 2025. These regulations require employers to:
identify and control psychosocial hazards and risks
review and revise risk control measures for psychosocial hazards in certain circumstances.
When it comes to family & domestic violence, it’s not possible to know when people will experience this, so the best way to address this is promoting a culture of safety so that employees feel safe to share their experience, creating clarity so that employees know what to do and who to talk to if they are needing support, and ensuring that all staff are trained in identifying family & domestic violence and it’s impact on the workplace.
In Victoria, employees right to work from home will be legally protected from September 1 2026 (delayed until 2027 for businesses with under 15 employees). This is a great outcome for employees who have enjoyed the flexibility of hybrid work arrangements, but it may present some additional risks for employees who are experiencing family & domestic violence.
So what does this mean for you as an employer?
This means that you have responsibility to proactively prevent risk and promote safety for employees. The most effective way to do this is to ensure that you and all of your staff are provided the opportunity to complete training and education so you’re able to understand family & domestic violence, identify potential risks and warning signs, and understand what you can do to support the victim survivor and help to make them feel safe.
Domestic & family violence is an extremely complex societal issue which, as an employer, you’re not expected to simply understand but you are expected to develop your knowledge and understanding. You are also expected to support your staff to do the same. Family & domestic violence is an extremely serious issue globally, but especially within Australia Our Watch who lead primary prevention of violence against women in Australia, advise that two in 5 women (39%) have experienced violence since the age of 15. If you look around your workplace and think of all the women employed, these statistics would indicate that there’s likely a large percentage of women within your workplace that have experienced, or are currently experiencing, family & domestic violence.
Capacity for Change offer workplaces the opportunity to learn from industry experts, with a combined 20+ years of experience in specialist family & domestic violence services. We offer a range of different training options:
Foundational: Family & Domestic Violence provides an overview of what F&DV is and how to understand this in the workplace context.
Comprehensive: Workplace Gender Equity training builds on the knowledge learnt in our Foundational training. This provides a deeper understanding of F&DV in the broader context and touches on supporting colleagues and how participants can work towards creating safe, inclusive workplaces.
Workplace Change for Leaders is our training that is specifically designed for Leaders and HR personnel as it goes deeper into workplace responsibility such as privacy and confidentiality, legislative requirements and supporting staff through safety planning.
We believe that preventing family & domestic violence is everyone’s responsibility, to learn more about how Capacity for Change can support you and your workplace, or to book your training, head over to our booking page today.
family and domestic violence - OH&S - work from home - positive duty - workplace responsibilities - safety planning
