I feel like we only just finished our five part in-depth series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) on Australia's shift to hybrid work and suddenly the ground is shifting under our feet. Again.
(above) The road ahead is a balancing act, between potential for disruption and opportunity for business who are strategic.
You’ve likely seen the headlines: the Victorian government is floating Australian-first laws to make working from home a legal right for many employees. While business groups are debating the merits and legality of the proposal, smart small and medium business (SME) owners should see this for what it is: a clear signal of a permanent change in the working world.
So now is time to think about how your business prepares.
When the pandemic hit, we all scrambled. We patched together remote work solutions with whatever we could find, focusing on just keeping the lights on. It was a panicked, emergency response. This is different. This is an opportunity to be deliberate, to be strategic, and to do it right.
The key message is simple: don't wait for legislation to force your hand. Whether these specific rules end up applying to your business or not is almost irrelevant. The expectation has been set. Employees, both current and future, now see flexible work not as a perk, but as a standard part of the deal. Any SME that isn't properly equipped for secure and efficient remote work will be at a serious disadvantage in the war for talent.
This is your chance to turn a potential compliance headache into a powerful competitive advantage.
From Pandemic Scramble to Professional Setup
Let's be honest, many "work from home" setups created in 2020 were built on a foundation of hope and residential-grade technology. It was about survival. Now, it's about building a resilient, professional framework that enables your team to be productive and, crucially, secure, no matter where they log in from.
Waiting until you're forced to act means you'll be playing catch-up. Proactively building a robust WFH model now means you can attract the best people, expand your talent pool beyond your immediate postcode, and offer the kind of modern workplace that top performers are looking for.
So, where do you start? You start with the foundations.
The Technology Foundations for Secure & Effective WFH
Getting your technology right is the first and most critical step. A secure and seamless remote work environment isn't just about buying a few laptops. It's about creating a digital extension of your office that is just as robust and protected.
1. Rock-Solid Connectivity (At Both Ends)
- At the Office: Your business's internet connection is now the lifeline for your entire remote team. A single, consumer-grade NBN connection that occasionally drops out is a liability. You need fast, reliable, business-grade internet. More importantly, you need redundancy. This means having a backup, like a StarLink or 5G failover, so that if your primary line goes down, your entire operation doesn't grind to a halt. If you're large enough, or your business needs dictate it, a redundant line isn't our of the question.
- At the Employee's Home: While you can't control their home network, your WFH policy should outline minimum requirements for internet speed and security. The goal is to ensure they can reliably and securely connect to your systems without interruption.
2. Understanding the Upload Speed Trap
It's not enough to just have "fast" internet; you need the right kind of fast. This means understanding what your applications demand and avoiding the critical, often-overlooked "upload speed trap."
- The Business Bottleneck: Many smaller businesses run on consumer or basic business NBN plans that are dangerously asynchronous—they offer fast downloads but cripplingly slow uploads. At the time of writing, even a top-tier 1000Mbps consumer plan offers only 50Mbps for uploads. When your remote team connects to your office server, they are all competing for that tiny upload pipe from your office to them. Every file they open and every piece of data they access from your server eats into that limited resource, creating a system-wide slowdown.
- The Employee Bottleneck: The same logic applies to your team's home connections. Their upload speed is what carries their voice on a Teams call, sends their video feed, and saves large documents back to the server. A slow upload speed at their end creates a bottleneck that leads to dropped calls with clients and makes collaboration a frustrating mess.
3. Hardware Reliability: The Difference Between "Business" and Consumer-Grade
A reliable connection is useless if the hardware running it is not up to the task. Many plans sold by ISPs as "business" plans come with consumer-grade routers that are deceptively sold as fit-for-business. But let's be clear: These are not built for the demands of a modern business.
True business-grade hardware should at least meet these four minimum characteristics:
- Secure: It has more advanced security features, offering better protection against threats. And it is regularly supported patched and maintained by the manufacturer so any future vulnerabilities are quickly addressed. If the router provided by your ISP is a set-and-forget affair that never gets a security patch, it's not business-grade - even more critically it poses a very real security threat to your business.
- Performant: It's built to handle a higher volume of connections and more data traffic without slowing down or crashing. If the hardware you're using can't support multiple users making demanding requests at the same time, if it doesn't allow you to prioritise VoIP and video-call traffic for smoother meetings and customer calls, then it's consumer-grade hardware.
- Manageable: This is crucial. Your IT provider (like AFSecure) must be able to manage, monitor, and support the hardware remotely. If they can't see what's happening, they can't secure it or fix it quickly when something goes wrong. If your ISP-provided box can't be managed remotely, it's consumer-grade hardware.
- Expandable & Resilient: Business-grade hardware supports true redundancy. This means it can be configured with a second, backup internet connection (or a third and fourth, etc..) that kicks in automatically if the primary one fails. It also allows for hardware failover, where a redundant router can take over instantly if the primary one fails, ensuring your business stays online. If your hardware doesn't support these features, it's not business-grade.
(above) Don't fall for an unearned "business" label.
4. Secure Access: Your Digital Front Door
How do your staff securely connect to the files and applications they need? Emailing files back and forth is not a secure or scalable solution.
- Virtual Private Network (VPN): Think of a VPN as a secure, encrypted tunnel from your employee's computer directly into your office network. It's the absolute baseline for secure remote access. It ensures that all the data travelling between their home and your office is shielded from prying eyes.
- Modern Alternatives (like Zero Trust): For even greater security, modern approaches like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) are becoming the gold standard. Instead of giving a user access to the entire network once they log in via VPN, ZTNA operates on a "never trust, always verify" principle. It grants access only to the specific applications a user needs for their job, dramatically reducing your exposure if a user's account is ever compromised.
5. Access to Internal Tools and Applications
Many SMEs rely on applications hosted on a server in the office—think accounting software, industry-specific databases, or a central file server. Your team needs seamless and secure access to these tools. This is precisely what a well-configured VPN or ZTNA solution provides. It allows your team to function as if they were sitting at their desk in the office, without compromising the security of your company's data.
6. Protecting the Device Itself (Endpoint Security)
When an employee works from home, their laptop is no longer protected by the physical and digital walls of your office. This "endpoint" becomes a potential gateway for cyber threats. Every device used for work, whether company-owned or personal, must have robust protection, including:
- Managed antivirus and anti-malware software.
- Regular security patches and software updates.
- Policies to prevent the use of unauthorised software.
It's Not Just Tech, It's Culture
Building a successful hybrid workplace goes beyond technology. It requires a culture of trust and security awareness.
The shift to remote work has unfortunately been accompanied by a rise in intrusive employee surveillance. While it might be tempting to monitor every keystroke, this approach erodes trust, damages morale, and can even lead to lower productivity. A successful WFH model is built on clear expectations and mutual trust, not digital micromanagement.
Furthermore, your team is your first line of defence against cyberattacks. Regular, engaging cybersecurity training is non-negotiable. They need to know how to spot a phishing email, the importance of using strong, unique passwords, and the risks of using public Wi-Fi for work.
The conversation around a "right to work from home" is just beginning, but the direction of travel is clear. This is your moment to get ahead of the curve. By moving beyond the reactive scramble of the pandemic and intentionally building a secure, efficient, and flexible work environment, you won't just be ready for new legislation—you'll be ready for the future of work. You'll be the business that great people want to work for.
Feeling overwhelmed by the technical details? We spend our days (and weekends) thinking about secure and resilient solutions for businesses like yours so you don't have to. If you're ready to build a WFH framework that empowers your team and protects your business, get in touch with us at AFSecure. We're here to help.