Four-day week possible for ACT public sector workers, inquiry finds

The move would reduce excessive working hours and has the potential to improve workers' wellbeing, the committee concluded.

A Legislative Assembly committee has recommended the ACT government convene a working group to map out how a four-day working week would be trialled in the territory's public service, and support a pilot program for trials in the private sector.

The inquiry, which began in May 2021, found strong support for a four-day work week in the ACT, with no loss of pay. The findings are set to increase pressure on the ACT government to trial the scheme.

"The committee finds a loss of worker and business productivity is one of the more commonly cited disadvantages of a four-day work week and notes that evidence from trials challenges this perception," the inquiry's report said.

Commonwealth laws would need to change to shift the entire ACT to a four-day working week but changes could be made for ACT government employees without changing federal laws, the inquiry found.

The findings of a future trial should be released publicly, the inquiry said.

The Liberals' Leanne Castley, the chair of the standing committee on economy and gender and economic equality, wrote a dissenting report, telling the Assembly she dissented from the recommendations to convene a working group to trial a four-day week for public sector staff and launch a pilot program to support private businesses.

"I do not believe that this inquiry has sufficiently made out an argument to justify recommendations two and three," Ms Castley said.

ACT Labor backbencher Suzanne Orr will urge her colleagues to support a four-day working week for the territory, calling it a "new frontier" for the labour movement.

Ms Orr said one of the main reasons she supported the policy was because it was beneficial for women.

"A five-day working week is incredibly difficult for those with primary caregiving responsibilities, and often unachievable," she said.

"Those workers are often forced to drop down to part-time work, forgoing income and contributing to the gender pay gap."

But territory public servants are unlikely to be permanently granted a four-day week in isolation.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr in May told the inquiry he believed the change needed to be society-wide and the ACT public sector did not operate in "an entirely different world".

"The ACT public sector cannot operate in a bubble that is completely isolated from everything else that happens in society. When going down this path, we have to contemplate what it means economy wide, society wide, and presumably nation wide as well," Mr Barr said.

ACT Labor party members agreed to support moving towards a four-day working week at the party's annual conference in July.

Rank and file members supported a motion calling on the ACT government to trial a four-day working week in the public service with no loss of pay.

A campaign for a four-day work week has taken off within Labor ranks across Canberra.

Ms Orr said she would continue to advocate for this position within the party and within the parliamentary Labor caucus. She said the ACT public service would be the first in Australia to trial a four-day work week.

"The ACT leads the way in many important and progressive issues such as period poverty. If we were the first jurisdiction to implement a four-day work week, we would yet again be showing the other states and territories how it is done," she said.

"I believe that supporting a better work-life balance is a way of ensuring we look after the health and wellbeing of workers all around Canberra."

Ms Orr is the deputy chair of the committee that inquired into the four-day work week.

The committee found evidence challenged the perception the four-day work week increased the cost to businesses and the change could improve worker and business productivity.

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Evidence from other four-day work week trials showed a four-day work week could improve staff retention for businesses, the inquiry found.

Younger, office-based workers broadly support a four-day working week but do not want to have their pay cut in exchange for working fewer hours, a survey conducted by the inquiry had found.

More than 85 per cent of respondents to the six-month long survey rated themselves as very supportive of a four-day working week.

The Australian Education Union, which represents teachers in the territory's public schools, told the inquiry fewer hours for teachers would help retain staff and address issues of workloads and over working.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said in its submission to the inquiry shorter weeks would help attract and retain healthcare workers to the territory.

The ACT government told the inquiry in a submission Canberra would become one of the most progressive cities in the world if it adopted a four-day working week in a "massive change", which could make it easier to attract quality staff.

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