Byline: Andrew Gale

On 1 July 2026, changes to Victoria’s domestic building regulatory and dispute resolution regimes are expected to take effect under the Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act 2025 (Act).

When your employees are regularly working hours beyond their contracted hours, or beyond 38 hours per week, there is a risk they will claim those additional hours are ‘unreasonable’.

We have summarised the law surrounding this claim and lessons from recent cases.

The Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) (Act) commences 1 July this year. The Act promotes the rights of those who access aged care services funded by the Australian Government and includes changes centred around the needs of patients. The reform comes as a result of concerns about various unsatisfactory examples of substandard care raised before the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, established in 2018.

Case note: Ms Jessica Dickson v Mr Felipe Cespedes & Susann Kovacs [2025] FWC 1218

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found a nanny who was paid cash-in-hand and who had agreed to be labelled as a contractor was an employee for the purposes of dealing with a general protections dismissal dispute. In the decision, Deputy President Butler examined the ordinary meanings of employee and employer and their relationships with the meaning of contractor.

Case note: Kent Aoyama v FLSA Holdings Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 524

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered a workplace to allow an employee to work an additional day per fortnight at home to be with his young child. The FWC decision came about after the employee’s individual flexibility arrangement (IFA) request was denied.