WFH now a ‘permanent and distinct feature’ of Australian employment

New research shows that half of all employed Australians, accounting for close to 7 million people, now “work from home” to some extent – demonstrating a fundamental, if not irrevocable, shift to working life in the post-pandemic age.

Market research agency Roy Morgan has released new findings detailing how widespread WFH arrangements have become across the country, with 46 per cent of employed Australians, and 51 per cent of full-time employees, utilising WFH arrangements at least some of the time.

WFH arrangements are also relatively popular for part-time employees, with over one in three (36 per cent) able to work flexibly.

The findings come from interviews of a representative sample of 41,449 employed Australians, conducted between July 2024 and June 2025. Roy Morgan’s definition of “working from home” includes employed and self-employed people who WFH in either paid or unpaid capacities.

Roy Morgan found, among other things, that:

• Those living in capital cities are more likely to WFH, with most workers from Australia’s largest cities of Sydney (55 per cent), Melbourne (52 per cent), and Canberra/ACT (51 per cent) able to WFH, compared to regional areas in Queensland (30 per cent), NSW (39 per cent), and Victoria (37 per cent).
• Sydney CBD leads the nation, with nearly 70 per cent of those working in the CBD able to WFH.
• Solo workers, or the self-employed, lead the way with the highest WFH rate at 55 per cent, and workplaces with 2-4 employees having a 48 per cent rate, with this figure dropping as business size increases.
• Finance and insurance workers lead industry-based findings, with 66 per cent of workers able to WFH, followed by communication (61 per cent) and property and business services workers (57 per cent).
• Income dictates one’s ability to WFH: 45-46 per cent of those earning between $70,000-$90,000 can WFH, compared to 64 per cent of those earning above $300,000. Rates steadily increase for salaries in between these spectrums.

WFH arrangements have, in 2025, become a political football.

Former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s hugely unpopular (and Trump-esque) crackdown on WFH arrangements for public servants arguably contributed to the Coalition’s historic election loss. Now, the opposition appears more willing to embrace WFH, particularly given what Dutton’s eventual about-face on that pre-election policy said about “workplace non-negotiables” in the current climate.

Over-correcting, however, may also have its drawbacks.

Recently, the Allan Labor government in Victoria has been widely criticised for its proposed WFH guarantee, with detractors arguing it will “steamroll” small businesses, and lawyers suggesting it is an “unusually crude” proposal.

Speaking about the findings, Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said that WFH arrangements have “become a permanent and distinct feature of Australia’s employment sector”.

“Nearly half of all employed Australians (46 per cent, representing over 6.7 million people) now ‘work from home’ at least some of the time, with uptake strongest in the capital cities and industries suited to flexible roles like finance, communication, and public administration. The data reveals significant variation by workplace size, sector, and income level, with higher earners more likely to have access to ‘working from home’ compared to lower-income employees,” she said.

“The issue of WFH has been front and centre in recent weeks after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced her government would enshrine a legal right for employees to ‘work from home’ at least two days a week where the nature of the job means this is a reasonable proposition under proposed Australian-first legislation,” Levine said

The benefits and drawbacks of WFH will “be a key factor” in discussions about productivity, economic resilience, and budget sustainability at next week’s National Economic Forum Roundtable, she suggested.

“Gaining an in-depth understanding of the nuances surrounding current ‘working-from-home’ trends across different cities, industries, workplace sizes, and income bands is vital to understand as businesses, employees, and policymakers adapt to a rapidly changing workforce landscape,” she said.