What is Australia’s hardest-working city?

Workers across Australia pride themselves on embracing a “grindset” mentality. Throughout various industries Aussies, in an attempt to survive in what has been well regarded as a volatile economic climate, are putting their head down and grinding through their work.

Australians are widely-considered some of the hardest-working individuals across the globe. Back in the 2000’s, Australia in fact was ranked the hardest-working nation in the western world, trailing only the US and Japan.

As the economic climate, and cost-of-living crisis continues to affect Australians, we’ve seen a number of Aussies increase their hours, and the number of jobs they work in an attempt to combat these financial pressures

In fact, at the start of the 2000s, Australia was ranked the hardest-working nation in the Western world, only surpassed by Japan and the US.

The theory of “grindset” showing a grind mindset is widely adopted by Australian workers and spurs them through their day.

A recent report by Reckon, who combed through the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has uncovered the working habits of these tough-going Aussies and have ranked which cities are the hardest working across the nation. Various factors go into the ranking, which is scored through a hard-work index implemented by Reckon.

The ranking is as follows:

1. Darwin
2. Perth
3. Sydney
4. Canberra
5. Melbourne
6. Brisbane
7. Hobart
8. Adelaide

Although Darwin scales low in comparison in terms of population, they topped the rankings as the hardest working city in Australia. According to the report, the city secured impressive scores on both productivity and potential workers. Darwin is also the capital city with the highest working hours and the highest proportion of multiple job holders.

In terms of which areas hold the hardest working individuals the data shows the North Sydney ranks in the top echelon:

1. North Sydney and Hornsby, NSW
2. Central West, NSW
3. Ryde, NSW
4. Darling Downs, Maranoa, QLD
5. Melbourne, Inner, VIC
6. New England and North West, NSW
7. Melbourne, Inner East, VIC
8. Sydney, Eastern Suburbs, NSW
9. Riverina, NSW
10. Melbourne, Inner South, VIC

North Sydney and Hornsby in NSW secured the top spot as Australia’s hardest working region. In fact, NSW regions dominate the top 10 list with 6 entries, VIC regions with 3 entries and QLD with only Darling Downs.

This list is of course not without a few controversies, as no region from SA, NT, ACT, WA, or TAS were able to scrape into the top 10.

“Australians are some of the hardest workers in the world, and with the current economic climate, many are working harder than ever to make ends meet and maintain their lifestyles. However, workers must remember to take breaks and maintain a good work-life balance to avoid burnout and protect their mental and physical well-being,” said Jess Morris, head of people and culture at Reckon.

As the “grindset” of the Australian worker continues to manifest throughout the country, burnout rates continue to soar. As previously reported on HR Leader, Australia was referred to as the burnout capital of the world.

A global survey by UiPath revealed that 82 per cent of Australian knowledge workers are feeling burnt out, with more than a third (36 per cent) of workers feeling very or extremely burnt out. These numbers exceed any other country surveyed.

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.