Work-from-home is for employers to decide
Employers have always had the right to say where their staff should be sited, but the proposal is to take away this foundational right and force employers to accept two days of work-from-home for employees who want it. Lest governments in other jurisdictions are tempted to go down this path, let's be more specific about the flaws in this proposal.
I'll start by explaining how businesses maximise productivity regarding work arrangements and what we stand to lose. The critical element is that each employer has the right to set those work arrangements themselves. Having this choice allows employers to decide on work-from-home arrangements that work best for the business, depending on their individual circumstances.
A travel agent in town A, for example, might have lots of work-from-home employees, and that works for them for the type of staff they're looking for and, as a result, they enjoy high productivity levels. That's great.
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On the other hand, a consulting firm in town B might insist all staff be on deck to foster teamwork and camaraderie, which result in high productivity. That's also great.
The key point here is to allow individual firms the choice of whether to have work-from-home or work-from-work arrangements, or indeed some sort of hybrid arrangement.
Allowing that choice allows the town A as well as the town B business to thrive. Denying that choice would – by definition – cause one of those businesses to suffer a productivity hit. The importance of allowing individual businesses to choose is critical not only to the success of millions of businesses across the country, but also to the national economy.
Some people make the mistake of making sweeping generalisations about what level of work-from-home is best for Australian businesses, but these one-size-fits-all proposals fail to account for what works best for each enterprise. They come in all shapes and sizes, with all sorts of business models, meeting all sorts of customer needs, and that is as it should be in a modern, dynamic economy.
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If you see a scam, or are the victim of foul play, you are encouraged to report it to authorities via: Online scammers have sunk to a new low, targeting bereaved loved ones around the country to make a quick buck at their expense. The funeral notices of recently departed Australians are being reproduced across social media with fraudulent links, asking loved ones to pay to livestream the service, but it's all a phishing scam. It comes as new report from Trend Micro found one in four surveyed had fallen victim to an online scam while two-thirds had been targeted by scammers. "It's a disgusting low act," said Paul Brooks of Burke and Douglas Funerals. Read more from The Senior: The Tamworth funeral home has been targeted by cyber criminals on several occasions over the past 18 months, though the true financial damage is unknown. Mr Brooks said there isn't much they can do except warn people that Australian funeral homes will never charge viewers to watch a livestream link. "As soon as we reported it or messaged them [the scam poster], it immediately changed to another funeral home down on the Victorian border," he said. "People don't care how they scam people out of money. Look, who knows, it might not even be someone in Australia." In 2024 reported losses to scammers equated to $2.03billion with 494,732 scam reports made that year, as revealed in data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange. During that year, the data showed 10,355 suspected Facebook scam URLs to Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram) for further investigation. A spokesperson from the National Anti-Scam Centre (an arm of the ACCC) told The Senior they have received reports of the funeral scams, which are similar involving fake livestream links to sporting events. "These are phishing scams and the methodology is the same in both scenarios," they said. "Entering credit card details results in attempted charges being made against the card, though the site may inform the user that the credit card details were invalid or failed. "Some scam streaming sites push you to subscribe with your credit card but don't deliver the content and/or fail to cancel your subscription when asked." Both Mr Brooks and the ACCC advised people to contact the funeral home directly for a live streaming link and research the organisation or person you're dealing with before giving and money or personal information. "It's a really sad time for people and it's loaded up with emotion ... and all of a sudden they're [the family are] then stressing about all their loved ones and friends who potentially could be scammed. It's not what they need," Mr Brooks said. "Ultimately, you'll never be charged to to watch a live stream for a funeral," Mr Brooks said. If you see a scam, or are the victim of foul play, you are encouraged to report it to authorities via: Online scammers have sunk to a new low, targeting bereaved loved ones around the country to make a quick buck at their expense. The funeral notices of recently departed Australians are being reproduced across social media with fraudulent links, asking loved ones to pay to livestream the service, but it's all a phishing scam. It comes as new report from Trend Micro found one in four surveyed had fallen victim to an online scam while two-thirds had been targeted by scammers. "It's a disgusting low act," said Paul Brooks of Burke and Douglas Funerals. Read more from The Senior: The Tamworth funeral home has been targeted by cyber criminals on several occasions over the past 18 months, though the true financial damage is unknown. Mr Brooks said there isn't much they can do except warn people that Australian funeral homes will never charge viewers to watch a livestream link. "As soon as we reported it or messaged them [the scam poster], it immediately changed to another funeral home down on the Victorian border," he said. "People don't care how they scam people out of money. Look, who knows, it might not even be someone in Australia." In 2024 reported losses to scammers equated to $2.03billion with 494,732 scam reports made that year, as revealed in data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange. During that year, the data showed 10,355 suspected Facebook scam URLs to Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram) for further investigation. A spokesperson from the National Anti-Scam Centre (an arm of the ACCC) told The Senior they have received reports of the funeral scams, which are similar involving fake livestream links to sporting events. "These are phishing scams and the methodology is the same in both scenarios," they said. "Entering credit card details results in attempted charges being made against the card, though the site may inform the user that the credit card details were invalid or failed. "Some scam streaming sites push you to subscribe with your credit card but don't deliver the content and/or fail to cancel your subscription when asked." Both Mr Brooks and the ACCC advised people to contact the funeral home directly for a live streaming link and research the organisation or person you're dealing with before giving and money or personal information. "It's a really sad time for people and it's loaded up with emotion ... and all of a sudden they're [the family are] then stressing about all their loved ones and friends who potentially could be scammed. It's not what they need," Mr Brooks said. "Ultimately, you'll never be charged to to watch a live stream for a funeral," Mr Brooks said. If you see a scam, or are the victim of foul play, you are encouraged to report it to authorities via: Online scammers have sunk to a new low, targeting bereaved loved ones around the country to make a quick buck at their expense. The funeral notices of recently departed Australians are being reproduced across social media with fraudulent links, asking loved ones to pay to livestream the service, but it's all a phishing scam. It comes as new report from Trend Micro found one in four surveyed had fallen victim to an online scam while two-thirds had been targeted by scammers. "It's a disgusting low act," said Paul Brooks of Burke and Douglas Funerals. Read more from The Senior: The Tamworth funeral home has been targeted by cyber criminals on several occasions over the past 18 months, though the true financial damage is unknown. Mr Brooks said there isn't much they can do except warn people that Australian funeral homes will never charge viewers to watch a livestream link. "As soon as we reported it or messaged them [the scam poster], it immediately changed to another funeral home down on the Victorian border," he said. "People don't care how they scam people out of money. Look, who knows, it might not even be someone in Australia." In 2024 reported losses to scammers equated to $2.03billion with 494,732 scam reports made that year, as revealed in data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange. During that year, the data showed 10,355 suspected Facebook scam URLs to Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram) for further investigation. A spokesperson from the National Anti-Scam Centre (an arm of the ACCC) told The Senior they have received reports of the funeral scams, which are similar involving fake livestream links to sporting events. "These are phishing scams and the methodology is the same in both scenarios," they said. "Entering credit card details results in attempted charges being made against the card, though the site may inform the user that the credit card details were invalid or failed. "Some scam streaming sites push you to subscribe with your credit card but don't deliver the content and/or fail to cancel your subscription when asked." Both Mr Brooks and the ACCC advised people to contact the funeral home directly for a live streaming link and research the organisation or person you're dealing with before giving and money or personal information. "It's a really sad time for people and it's loaded up with emotion ... and all of a sudden they're [the family are] then stressing about all their loved ones and friends who potentially could be scammed. It's not what they need," Mr Brooks said. "Ultimately, you'll never be charged to to watch a live stream for a funeral," Mr Brooks said. If you see a scam, or are the victim of foul play, you are encouraged to report it to authorities via:
