Victoria Police and Council Workers Get Fair Work Act Protections From 1 November 2026: Fixed-Term Limits, Casual Conversion, Flexible Work and Pay Secrecy

The Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Amendment Act 2026 passed the Victorian Legislative Council on 10 September 2026 and received Royal Assent on 15 September as Act No. 39/2026 (bill history). Section 2 says it commences on a day to be proclaimed and, if not proclaimed earlier, on 1 November 2026. No proclamation had appeared in the Victoria Government Gazette when this article was checked on 23 October, so 1 November is the operative date to plan around.

Victoria referred most of its industrial relations power to the Commonwealth in 2009, which is why the Fair Work Act covers Victorian private-sector and most public-sector workers. The referral kept back matters the High Court has said go to a state's capacity to govern itself: the number, identity, appointment and senior management of its public servants, and specific matters affecting police. This Act narrows those carve-outs in defined ways. It does not make a wholesale new referral.

The Government's second-reading summary in the Legislative Assembly on 25 August 2026 describes three groups of changes:

In the Act itself these appear as new subsections 5(1A) to (1C) of the Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009 (fixed-term, casual, flexible work and pay secrecy matters) and new paragraphs 5(2)(b)(iii) to (v) (bargaining, workplace determinations and the general protections for law enforcement officers), with consequential changes to the Victoria Police Act 2013 so that the two regimes operate together.

The police changes have deliberate limits. New subsection 5(2A) keeps the following outside bargaining and the general protections: uniform or equipment; a tasking decision, defined as a transfer of an officer from place to place or position to position for up to 14 days to mitigate, respond to or recover from an emergency or major incident; and a transfer to other duties during an investigation into, or after a charge of, a breach of discipline or an offence punishable by imprisonment.

Existing enterprise agreements and workplace determinations keep operating under the old rules until they are replaced (new Part 4 of the 2009 Act), so the practical effect for police arrives when the next Victoria Police agreement is bargained. The amending Act repeals itself on 1 November 2027 without undoing the amendments it makes.

• Fixed-term contracts. The Fair Work Act generally limits a fixed-term contract to two years, including renewals, with listed exceptions. Our fixed-term contract cap checker applies the rules; the Act's transitional provisions and any public-sector exceptions will determine how they bite on contracts already in place, so check the date your contract was made.
• Casual conversion. A casual with a regular pattern can give written notice to convert after six months with a larger employer. The casual conversion calculator shows the timing and what the employer can say in response.
• Flexible work. Executives and office holders newly covered can make a section 65 request using the flexible work request letter; the employer must respond in writing within 21 days.
• Pay secrecy. A contract term that stops you discussing your pay has no effect once the rights apply, and an employer cannot take adverse action against you for a pay conversation.
• Police members. Watch the next round of bargaining: probation, promotion and transfer terms can now be put into the agreement and enforced, which is the change the Police Association had sought for years.

This article summarises the Act and the Government's description of it. Whether a particular employee is a "non-executive" employee or a "public office holder" for these purposes turns on the definitions in the Act and in the Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009. The Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) and your union can confirm coverage.