Telework taskforce
Telework news
About the taskforce
Sensis research
Discussion papers
DCITA website
What is telework?
Telework news
The Australian Telework Advisory Committee (ATAC) presented its report to Government on Monday 27 February 2006, entitled 'Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses - Maximising the economic and social benefits of flexible working practices'.
The then Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, and the then Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews, welcomed the release of the report.
The Committee was tasked with examining the potential for flexible working arrangements to assist communities, government, employers and employees to meet a number of economic, social and personal goals.
The Committee concluded that broader take-up of telework has the potential to expand the labour market during a period of high employment to fill skills gaps. Telework could also provide improved employment opportunities for people who may otherwise be excluded from the workforce.
Telework has the capacity to facilitate greater workforce participation in line with the Government's Welfare to Work policies, especially among groups that find it difficult to participate in the traditional office-based workplace—such as people with disabilities, mature-aged workers and carers.
“I welcome the Committee's report on teleworking in Australia and note with interest the central role of management and workplace practices in the success of flexible working arrangements,” Mr Andrews said.
Requests for hard copies of the report can be directed via e-mail to telework@dcita.gov.au.
In 2004, the Government made an election commitment to establish a teleworking and home-based business taskforce.
The taskforce - known as the Australian Telework Advisory Committee (ATAC) - comprised a number of relevant Government agencies, industry and small business representatives. The co-chairs of the Committee were the then Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) and the then Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
The ATAC's role was to:
- seek to assess the status and current trends in the adoption of telework in Australia;
- identify the impact of increased adoption of telework in the public and private sectors; and
- propose strategies to support greater use of telework.
The ATAC was first convened in March 2005. During April and May 2005, it invited submissions from the public, provided consultative forums for key stakeholders and met individually with state and territory agencies and private sector organisations to discuss their experiences.
The ATAC's final report was presented to Government on 27 February 2006.
For more information, including public submissions, go to the DCITA website.
Sensis Research
As part of the review into teleworking, the ATAC commissioned Sensis to conduct research into the current state-of-play in Australian teleworking. The Sensis Insights Teleworking Report June 2005, contains survey results from small and medium enterprises and consumers concerning the use of telework arrangements in Australia. The report includes 2005 survey data on the incidence of telework, telework characteristics, reasons for teleworking and impact of telework on businesses and employees.
Discussion Papers
A series of papers were prepared by the ATAC to provide background on a range of telework issues and an overview of telework developments in Australia and overseas.