Digital Economy Goal: by 2020, Australia will have at least doubled its level of teleworking so that at least 12 per cent of Australian employees report having a teleworking arrangement with their employers.

National Telework Week

The Minister has announced the first National Telework Week 12–16 November 2012 as part of the drive to increase telework uptake in Australia. This event will provide a national focus on the importance of telework in Australia.

During National Telework Week organisations will be encouraged to trial telework with employees teleworking for a day, or number of days, that week. A range of support materials and information will be available on key issues for individuals and businesses.

• Read more about what telework week will look like in Australia in the National Telework Week fact sheet (PDF - 1.2 mb) (HTML).

The Australian Government will partner with a range of organisations to support National Telework Week. Organisations interested in partnering with the government to promote telework are encouraged to contact the department via telework@dbcde.gov.au .

2011 Telework Forum

The Australian Government convened a Telework Forum in Sydney on 3 August 2011 to help identify how Australian businesses and government agencies can use the catalyst of the NBN to boost the rate of telework in Australia.

The Telework Forum: Bringing Home the Benefits of Teleworking Using the NBN showcased Australian businesses and government agencies that are using telework to improve business performance.

The forum highlighted the capacity of organisations to realise a range of benefits through increased working from home arrangements, and how the NBN will make this even easier. Using the NBN, organisations will have a much greater capacity for the workforce participation, environmental and economic advantages made possible by arranging for employees to work from home.

Participants were present in person and via webcast, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Outcomes of the forum

Forum participants identified a number of actions the Australian Government government and industry can take to maximise the uptake of telework in Australia. The forum report lists the action in full on pages 3 and 19.

• Telework Forum: Bringing home the benefits of telework using the NBN (PDF - 124 kb) (HTML)

Forum resources

• Find details of the full forum program: Telework Forum agenda (PDF - 272 kb) (HTML)
• See also the 2011 Telework Forum speaker profiles.

Session 1: 9.00–10.30 am

Opening addresses:

• Julie McCrossin, facilitator
• The Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
• Geoff Johnson, Vice President and Research Director, Gartner Research

Panel discussion: The case for telework: opportunities, benefits, barriers and strategies

• Watch a video recording of forum session 1
• Telework Forum transcript: Session 1 (PDF - 166.6 kb)
• Telework Forum transcript: Session 1 (RTF-  68.3 kb)

Session 2: 10.55 am–1.00 pm

Panel discussion: Telework success stories

Presentation: Creating a telework business case

• Ric Simes, Partner, Deloitte Access Economics

Plenary session: Priorities for action: Tell us what you think

• Watch a video recording of forum session 2
• Telework Forum transcript: Session 2 (PDF - 216.3 kb)
• Telework Forum transcript: Session 2 (RTF - 334.3 kb)