Greens unveil election push for permanent four-day work week in Australia

The Greens are pushing for Australia to pilot test the coveted four-day work week.

Greens senator Barbara Pocock today unveiled the party's election policy, which would involve forming the National Institute for the Four Day Work Week to trial reducing the traditional Monday to Friday full-time schedule.

Pocock said ordinary Australians deserved to have a permanent extra day off with the same pay and claimed it would result in "happier, better-rested and harder workers".

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"Many countries around the world are already doing this - Canada, Spain, Germany, the US, the UK," Pocock said.

"The results tell us productivity often improves, absenteeism falls, and we find that workers stay at work longer and it really benefits working carers, especially women."

"Its time we took this step."

Australians were among the first in the world to achieve a mandated eight-hour work day in 1856.

Nearly 170 years on, Pocock said our nation is "lagging behind" the rest of the world.

"It's time workers had a better go," she added.

"It's time we moved to a reduction in working hours."

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Pocock estimated the formation of a national institute to officially trial four-day weeks across multiple businesses would cost a "modest spend of $10 million per year".

She said multiple industries would need to test and monitor the impact, including whether an increase in hours across the four days was needed.

The Senate Inquiry into Work and Care recommended the government undertake a four-day work week trial in 2023.

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A four-day week would be based on the 100:80:100 model, where workers keep 100 per cent of their salary while reducing hours to 80 per cent and committing to 100 per cent productivity.

Some Australian businesses have already permanently adopted a Monday to Thursday week, including media agency Claxon. 

Medibank also trialled a four-day week last year for 500 employees and found overall health, sleep and work-life balance improved.

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