Hybrid working and the Australian social contract: Key factors in the 2025 federal election outcome

Abstract This article examines how the Australian Liberal-National Coalition party’s (LNP) proposed working from home policy, which would have mandated a return to office for public servants, contributed to a dramatic electoral loss. The 2025 Australian federal election delivered an unexpected landslide victory to the incumbent Australian Labor Party, defying polling predictions that had shown the LNP leading by 10 percentage points just months earlier. We argue that this policy proposal violated an evolving social contract that encompasses hybrid working as a fundamental employment right. Through analysis of media coverage, polling data, and post-election commentary, we demonstrate that the LNP’s failure to recognise this shift in social expectations regarding work arrangements played a significant role in their electoral defeat. Our findings suggest that hybrid working has become institutionalised as part of Australia’s evolving social contract, with implications for future political discourse and employment policy.