6275.0 - Locations of Work, Australia, Nov 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/05/2006   
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MEDIA RELEASE

May 26, 2006
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
46/2006

ABS: a quarter of employed work some hours at home

Almost a quarter (24% or 2.2 million) of people employed in November 2005, worked some hours at home in their main job, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This is up from June 2000 when 20% of all people employed did some work at home in their main job.

'Catching up on work' was the main reason given by over one-third (35%) of people who worked at home in their main or second job followed by 'wanting an office at home/no overheads/no rent' (23%). The majority of those who worked at home were professionals (31% of men and 38% of women) followed by managers and administrators (24%) for men and advanced clerical, sales and service workers (15%) for women.

Close to one in every 12 employed people (724 500 people or 8%) worked more hours at their own home than at any other single location in their main or second job. Of these people:
  • The majority (79%) were aged 35 years or older, 55% were women and 40% had children less than 15 years old.
  • The main reason for working from home was 'Wanting an office at home/no overheads/no rent' (40%) - most of this group were business ownersa.
  • Close to three-quarters (72%) worked less than 35 hours at home.

People who were business ownersa in their main job were much more likely to work mainly at home (27% of the 1.9 million business ownersa) than employeesb (1.5% of the 7.5 million employeesb). Of the 585 000 women who were business ownersa in their main job, 46% worked mainly at home.

The survey also collected information about the other locations where people work. Of the 9.4 million people at work in November 2005, 80% worked at their employer's or client's workplace in their main job, 36% spent some time travelling for work and 42% worked in two or more locations during the reference week. The vast majority (89%) of employeesb worked mainly at business premises in their main job compared to only 49% of business ownersa.

Further details can be found in Locations of Work, Australia, November 2005 (cat. no. 6275.0).

a - 'Business owners' comprises owner managers of incorporated enterprises and owner
managers of unincorporated enterprises
b - Excluding owner managers of incorporated enterprises