I’m with Spitty on this… 
What a ridiculous law… 
What about telling your boss that you won’t answer calls in your own time? Do we actually need a law?
The only people to benefit from this are the people running the tribunal when you get sacked for being a tw&t…
If you have a sick note and are unable to work, you shouldn’t be expected to work. You don’t need a law, but there probably already is one.
Big global conglomerates like Amazon have no excuse to call anyone at home out of working hours unless it’s about information only they can supply.
I see this law as another nail in the coffin for small and family run businesses.
You are not just an employee, you are part of a team, without which there would be no job and no pay, you have a responsibility to help where you can. I was called several times on my day off while working for Royal Mail, sometimes I went in, and sometimes I couldn’t, but bad attitude helps nobody and I didn’t need a law to prevent my line manager from ringing and asking for help. There are many reasons why an employee didn’t turn up for work at the last minute, but the post had to be delivered.
People who specialise in the job they do should be able to be contacted by phone from the boss if there is a problem only they can solve.
As an engineer, I was called in a few times to sort out problems. Either that, or the company loses custom…
There are too many laws these days and most of them overlap other laws and are not necessary. There will be a law soon to prevent walking on the cracks in the pavement…
What a depressing world we are making for ourselves…
Foxy, you were employed then self employed, young then older, so, you saw both sides of the coin. When I was young, I was the first one on the picket line when demarcation was being abused, sometimes by arse lickin fellow members, a certain person didn’t need to break the unions, the rank and file was doing a pretty good job on their own!
I Like you, Ms. Surfermom, always felt the need to respond, taking care of an issue now could save many headaches later, but then, in the transportation field, most problems (when and if they arose) needed remedying yesterday.
One Man one Job, became One Man, three jobs, still, no complaints here 
There is nothing stopping an employer from having “on call” being part of a registered wage award as long as the employee is remunerated appropriately.
Awards are there to protect the employee, an employer may offer wages and conditions above the award but not less.
The amendment to the industrial relations law is to stop abuses such as mentioned by @Graham
Australia has a very robust industrial relations system as some companies like Amazon found to their cost.
Edit:
If you don’t quite understand the significance of awards here is a link that explains it.
Didnt you have working from home in the Covid lockdowns??
we certainly did here and US did - obviously only jobs that can be done from home.
Some people are still working partly from home now
However this law isnt just about working from home - it is about expecting employees to come in to work as well.
It also doesnt mean your employer isnt allowed to ring you if you agree to that - it just means you have the right to say no to such calls.
As I said above, most people are ok with reasonable occasional calls and requests - if the employer treats you well, you are willing to do bit extra too.
But it isnt something employers can demand - unless, obviously, you are officially on call as part of the job
and yes I can see that we need a law now - partly since working from home has become more common and partly because modern electronic devices mean people can be contacted 24/7 - which of course wasnt the case before emails, mobile phones etc
For most people, employers and employees, nothing will change - but for those employers who abused the situation before, it will.
July
you assume working from home is being employed by a company. WRONG. My home is where I worked from
I had my own boarding kennels and cattery so yes worked from home, but not as you meant. By the time of the covid lockdown I had already retired a few years before hand
our cattery licenced for 48 cats
and the kennels licences for 118 dogs
just one of the kennel blocks
being self employed after leaving British Telecom the only boss i had to answer to i had married many years before
Oh come on! Did you often get calls from yourself requesting you to go to work?
A lot of self employed work from home but even a simpleton can understand that is not what is being talked about, you’re just using it as an excuse to show the photos of your bedroom again.
Bruce I was replying to July and her specific questions about working during covid lockdown and about working from home.
Quote " Oh come on! Did you often get calls from yourself requesting you to go to work?" unquote. I have read some silly statements before but this tops the lot.
Can I suggest you lay off drinking kangaroo juice it has strange effects on some people
Don’t do justification RS, you will just end up in the Doghouse 
Some folks would feel really important and valued to get a call outside normal business hours.
When the IRA set off a bomb in a building I worked in I rang up to see if I was required. My employer had no way of getting in touch with me because (like most people) I didn’t have a phone - remember this was the UK in the 1970s
Just think Bruce, folks who worked at the crematorium in the 70s might have got a Smoke Signal!!
Unlikely - The Clean Air Act 1956 and 1968
Well, no, I dont assume that - obviously many people are self employed working from their homes.
But i n context of topic, that isnt what we mean by working from home. Seems obvious to me we were discussing employers and employees i n this thread
If you are a responsible employee you should be flattered that you are important enough to be called into work on your day off and it shows just how indispensible you are. It’s unfair to persecute your boss by having a law against him/her contacting you. Bosses have feelings you know, and if they are a supervisor or foreman they will be under pressure from their superiors…
Workers just don’t like taking orders anymore…too much ECHR…
A boss isn’t just for Christmas… Show them some love… 
no, if you are hounded by your boss in your time off and expected to be working at all times - then no, I would not feel flattered. I don’t think Graham felt flattered in his real life example above.
Workers are fine taking reasonable orders - when they are at work.
and again, the law isnt saying your boss cant contact you - only that they cant demand you answer and work in your time off or penalise you for being uncontactable.
Did you not read the bit in my post where I said that in Grahams case his refusal was justified…
You have a responsibility to your boss to do the best you can in your job. After all, it is your livelihood…If, like in the old days, you didn’t have a job and produced your own food, or did little jobs for other people for reward, you would likely be on call 24/7. Harvesting your crops or tending to animals knows no bounds…Fortunately, in this day and age, your skills are better used working for someone else so it’s only right that you treat them the same as if you had to work for yourself. They are your livelihood now and if you abuse them, you might find yourself out of a job and fending for yourself like in the old days.
you have a responsibility t o do the best you can in your job - in your work time.
You have no responsibility out of work hours.
what people did in self sufficient farming or any other ‘old days’ is irelevant here.
not being available 24/7 or not doing work outside of work times is not abusing your job - expecting that would be your employer abusing their position
If management treat employees poorly they might find themselves out of staff - and in Australia, in trouble with courts.
There will be no “Turning Off” when we get back to good old Bartering!!!