Australia Considers Four-Day Work Week to Boost Productivity and Work-Life Balance

Australians may soon benefit from a four-day working week, as unions launch a fresh campaign to cut weekly work hours and increase holidays in a bid to improve national productivity and overall well-being.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation have proposed the idea ahead of the upcoming Productivity Commission’s economic reform roundtable. The unions argue that reduced working hours are a better way to share in productivity gains than tax cuts.

AMWU National Secretary Steve Murphy told The Australian that Australia needs to begin a serious conversation about reducing working hours without affecting wages. Proposed models include a four-day work week, a nine-day fortnight, or a 35-hour work week.

Murphy emphasized that for most Australians, achieving better work-life balance is more important than tax reductions. He explained that people are generally willing to pay taxes for essential public services and infrastructure, but they also deserve more time off as a reward for increasing productivity.

“If we’re more productive over the course of the week, we should work fewer hours. That would be a great outcome,” Murphy said. “Or perhaps we could have more annual leave to spend time with loved ones.”

On Monday, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told Sunrise that the government is open to all ideas and willing to listen respectfully during the roundtable. She said the goal is to make Australia’s economy more productive, not by asking people to work longer hours for less pay, but by investing in people, technology, and smarter work practices.

“We want to invest in our people, boost training, invest in new ways of working, and play to our competitive advantages as a nation,” she said.

Meanwhile, Skills Minister Andrew Giles emphasized the need for more tradespeople, particularly electricians to support home building, and workers in aged care, childcare, health, and disability services—all sectors vital to economic productivity.

Parliament is set to resume on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expected to introduce legislation aimed at cutting student debt by 20 percent, ending subsidies to non-compliant childcare centres, and preventing the lowering of penalty rates by the Fair Work Commission.