Why Many Gippslanders Would Rather Get Out of the House for Work

The Victorian Government is asking for feedback on a new law that could give workers the legal right to work from home two days a week – if the job can be done remotely.

Sounds great if you’re stuck on the Monash Freeway for two hours every day or battling for a seat on a packed train. But here in Gippsland? Well… things are a bit different.

Most of our jobs aren’t “Zoom-friendly”

Scroll through Gippslander’s job listings on any given day and you’ll see the real heartbeat of our region: café staff, support workers, shop assistants, tradies, healthcare staff, tourism crews, farmers.

These aren’t jobs you can do in pyjamas while the kettle boils. You can’t pull a latte for a customer in town from your kitchen bench. You can’t change a patient’s bandage over email. You can’t fix a fence via Microsoft Teams.

We take pride in showing up

Around here, turning up is just how we do things. Whether you’re behind the bar, on a building site, or in a client’s home, being there in person matters. It’s part of our work ethic – you pitch in, you’re part of a team, you’re reliable.

Small businesses run on face-to-face

A lot of our bosses are small business owners, not big corporations with city offices. If their staff stayed home, it wouldn’t just be inconvenient – it could stop the business running at all. Shops need shopkeepers, cafés need baristas, and farms need hands in the paddock.

The social side is part of the job

In small towns, work isn’t just work – it’s a social lifeline. You see the same customers, swap stories with locals, have a yarn with your workmates. For some people, that’s the only time they get a proper chat in their day.

Take that away, and it’s not just the café that feels emptier – the whole community does.

Towns thrive when people are out and about

Foot traffic is the lifeblood of our main streets. You grab lunch, duck into the bank, post a parcel, browse the shops – all because you’re already in town for work. If more people stayed home midweek, those little purchases that keep small businesses ticking could drop off.

Work-life looks different here

In Melbourne, working from home is a break from a long commute. In Gippsland, your “commute” might be a five-minute drive past cows and paddocks. That’s not exactly the soul-sucking traffic jam city folks are escaping. And honestly, for a lot of us, getting out of the house is the best part of the day.

Community health and safety

When people are out in town, it’s not just good for business – it keeps the community connected, services busy, and even adds to the feeling of safety. A busy main street is a healthy main street.

The bigger picture

There’s nothing wrong with flexibility when it makes sense. But for most of us in Gippsland, working from home just isn’t part of the deal – and that’s okay.

Because sometimes the best part of work isn’t the work at all. It’s the people you meet, the coffee you grab on your break, the quick hello from someone you haven’t seen in years. That’s the kind of “work perk” you can’t get from your lounge room.

If you’ve got thoughts on the proposed work-from-home laws – whether you’d welcome them or think they don’t quite fit life out here – you can have your say through the Victorian Government’s public consultation.