Australia presently lags internationally in levels of teleworking. Just 6 per cent of workers in Australia reported having teleworking arrangements of any form with their employers in 2009.
In North America, a study found that an estimated 10 per cent of all employees work from home at least one day per month. In England, a labour force study found 4.3 per cent of employees reported working mainly from home, compared with just 2.9 per cent of Australian employees working from home as frequently. Within the European Union the rate of employees working away from a central office is very high, exceeding 70 per cent in some Scandanavian countries. However, this figure includes working at locations outside the office other than the home.
- Australian Bureau of Statisitcs Household Use of Information Technology
- Telework 2011 A WorldAtWork Special Report [PDF - 428kb]
- Flexibility.co.uk The Home Working Revolution Continues
- Read the report Deloitte Access Economics report Next Generation Telework: A Literary Review (PDF - 518KB) (DOC, 2.8MB)
One of the reasons why there is a higher uptake of telework in the USA and EU is because teleworking is a strategic government objective supported by policies and campaigns to encourage uptake. By making telework a National Digital Economy Goal, the Australian Government has signalled its intention to bring Australia into line with international levels of telework.
Throughout 2012 a group of organisations will partner with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on Telework Week and assist more broadly with the planning and promotion of telework in Australia.
Initial partners in National Telework Week include:
- Australian Human Resources Institute
- Australian Industry Group
- Australian Information Industry Association
- Australian Network for Disability
- Local Government Managers Australia.
Cisco, the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Unity4, Telstra, BlackBerry, Polycom, Infrastructure Australia and the Green Building Council of Australia have also agreed to become partners.
Organisations interested in partnering with the Australian Government to promote telework are encouraged to contact the department via telework@dbcde.gov.au .
