Over 6.7 million employed Australians — 46% of the workforce — now work from home at least some of the time, according to Roy Morgan data from June 2025. That is nearly half the country’s workers. And it is not a temporary blip. The same research shows that 54% of full-time employees work from home at least occasionally, and the proportion rises to 66% in the finance and insurance sector. Remote work has shifted from emergency measure to permanent feature of Australian employment.
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This article is general information only and does not constitute professional advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified professional.
These numbers matter for any business owner or manager in Australia. The way you set up, manage, and support remote work directly affects who you can hire, how productive they are, and whether your business keeps up with what workers now expect. The Australian Digital Inclusion Index found that over a third of adults work from home every single workday — meaning remote work is not occasional for millions of people. It is their normal. Here is what you actually need to know.
What the Research Tells Us About Remote Work
When people talk about remote work, they often mean different things. For some, it is a full-time arrangement. For others, it is two days a week. The Roy Morgan data defines it as anyone who works from home, paid or unpaid, at least some of the time. What I tend to notice is that businesses that treat remote work as a single category miss the nuance. The difference between a finance manager in Sydney working from home four days a week and a retail worker in Darwin who cannot work from home at all is not just personal preference — it is structural.
Where the Remote Work Divide Hits Hardest
The benefits of remote work are not spread evenly. The Roy Morgan data shows that 70% of Sydney CBD workers and 65% of Melbourne CBD workers work from home at least some of the time. In Darwin, that figure is 42%. In Adelaide, it is 45%. The gap between capital cities and the rest of Australia is just as wide: the Australian Digital Inclusion Index reports that 56.4% of workers in capital cities work from home at least weekly, compared to 47.4% in regional areas.
Income level also drives the divide. Among Australians earning over $90,000, 53% work from home. Among those earning $30,000–$49,999, the rate drops to 33–36%. For earners under $6,000, it is just 25%. This is not a coincidence. Higher-income roles tend to be knowledge-based and more compatible with remote work, while lower-income roles in retail, transport, and personal services often require a physical presence.
What this means for a business is straightforward. If you operate in a regional area or employ lower-income workers, your remote work options are more limited. Trying to force a one-size-fits-all remote policy across your entire business will create friction. The strategic partnerships that help businesses adapt often start with honestly assessing where your workforce actually sits.
Common Missteps Businesses Make With Remote Work
Treating Remote Work as a Perk Rather Than a Policy
Many businesses still treat working from home as an informal favour. The Roy Morgan data shows that 66% of finance and insurance workers work from home, while 37% of retail workers do. When a policy is informal, it creates inconsistency. One manager allows it, another does not. The result is resentment and confusion. The fix is a written policy that states who is eligible, how many days, and what the expectations are for availability and output. Victoria’s proposed right-to-work-from-home legislation will make this even more relevant — if the law passes, informal arrangements will need to become formal.
Ignoring the Connectivity Problem
Fifteen point nine percent of Australians report that connectivity issues regularly affect their ability to work from home. If you assume every employee has reliable internet, you are wrong. The problem is worse in regional areas, but it also affects city workers in older buildings or with poor NBN connections. A business that does not address connectivity — by providing a business VPN for secure remote access or subsidising home internet — is asking for productivity loss. I have seen businesses lose hours each week to dropped video calls and slow uploads, all because they never asked their team about connection quality.
Managing Remote and In-Person Teams the Same Way
The data shows that workplaces with 1,000 or more employees have a 52% remote work rate, while those with 5–9 employees sit at 38%. Larger businesses tend to have more formal processes. Smaller ones often try to manage remote workers the same way they manage in-person staff — with the same check-ins, the same expectations, and the same communication style. That does not work. Remote workers need structured communication, clear written briefs, and regular check-ins that are not just informal hallway chats. Adapting project management approaches for distributed teams is one way to close this gap.
Overlooking the Income and Industry Divide
If your business employs both knowledge workers and manual or retail staff, a blanket remote work policy will create a two-tier system. The Roy Morgan data shows that 66% of finance workers work from home, while 63% of retail workers are entirely in-person. The perception of unfairness can damage morale. The better approach is to tailor policies to role type, with clear reasons for the difference. A retail worker cannot stock shelves from home. A finance analyst can. Explaining the logic openly reduces friction.
Building a Remote Work Framework That Works for Your Business
Understanding Where Your Industry Sits
Different industries have very different remote work rates. Finance and insurance leads at 66%, followed by communication at 61%, property and business services at 57%, and public administration at 56%. At the other end, retail, recreation and personal services sit at 37%, and transport and storage at 38%. If your industry is on the lower end, your remote work policy will necessarily be more limited. That does not mean you cannot offer it at all — but your approach needs to be role-specific rather than company-wide.
→ Scroll right to see all columns
| Industry | Work from Home at Least Some of the Time | Entirely In-Person |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 66% | 34% |
| Communication | 61% | 39% |
| Property & Business Services | 57% | 43% |
| Public Administration & Defence | 56% | 44% |
| Transport & Storage | 38% | 62% |
| Retail, Recreation & Personal Services | 37% | 63% |
Addressing the Connectivity Gap
The 15.9% of Australians with connectivity issues are not a niche problem. They are your potential employees. If you hire remote workers in regional areas, you need to factor in internet quality. Some businesses provide a monthly internet subsidy. Others supply 4G or 5G backup devices. The simplest step is to ask every remote employee to run a speed test and report back. You cannot fix a problem you have not measured. For security, a business VPN for remote teams can help protect company data regardless of connection quality.
Tailoring Policies to Role and Income Level
The Roy Morgan data shows a clear pattern: as income rises, so does the rate of remote work. At $30,000–$49,999, it is 33–36%. At $100,000–$149,999, it is 56–58%. At $300,000 and above, it is 64%. If your business has a wide income range, you cannot apply the same policy to everyone. Higher-income roles are more likely to be compatible with remote work, but that does not mean lower-income roles should be excluded entirely. Consider partial remote options, flexible hours, or compressed work weeks for roles that cannot be done fully from home. Scaling a business sustainably often means matching flexibility to role reality.
What’s Coming Next: Regulation and the Right to Work From Home
In mid-2025, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced proposed legislation that would enshrine a legal right for employees to work from home at least two days a week where the nature of the job makes it reasonable. This is Australian-first legislation. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also convened a National Economic Forum Roundtable where remote work is a key factor in discussions about productivity and economic resilience. If Victoria’s law passes, other states may follow. The result would be that remote work is no longer a discretionary benefit — it becomes a legal entitlement for many workers. Businesses that have not yet formalised their remote work policies will need to do so.
Frequently Asked Questions About Remote Work in Australia
What percentage of Australians work from home full-time? ▾
Which Australian city has the highest rate of remote work? ▾
Does remote work availability vary by income? ▾
What industries have the highest remote work rates? ▾
Is Victoria introducing a legal right to work from home? ▾
How many Australians have connectivity issues when working from home? ▾
The Remote Work Question Is Not Going Away
Victoria’s proposed right-to-work-from-home legislation and the federal government’s focus on productivity and remote work signal that this is not a temporary trend. The Roy Morgan data shows that 46% of Australians now work from home at least some of the time, and the Australian Digital Inclusion Index confirms that over a third do so every single day. Businesses that treat remote work as a policy decision rather than a cultural shift will be better positioned as regulation tightens and worker expectations solidify. The data is clear — the question is not whether to offer remote work, but how to do it well.
Remember: this article is general information only. For advice on your specific situation, speak to a qualified professional.
If this was useful, you might also want to read How to Generate Leads for Free in Australia Without Paid Ads.
Sources and Further Reading
Building a Resilient Business: Lessons from Australia’s Recent Challenges — How Australian businesses have adapted to disruption, including the shift to remote work.
From Startup to Scale-Up: The Aussie Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sustainable Growth
