National Telework Week

Telework-Week

Australia’s first National Telework Week was held from 12 to16 November to raise awareness of the opportunities, benefits, and practical issues associated with working from home.

The Week was a great success with employees, businesses, organisations and communities across Australia tuning in, turning up, or going online to join the workforce of the future!

Over 30 events were held during the Week by Telework Partners and communities across the country – from Smithton (TAS) to Perth (WA) and Coffs Harbour (NSW).

Our Telework Partners help others join the anywhere working world by encouraging their staff to telework and by promoting the benefits of telework through their own communication channels and stakeholder engagement activities. To find out more, or to become a partner, visit our Partners page.

Did you create an account for National Telework Week? Access it from the login page.

Starting the conversation

National Telework Week started a national conversation about telework and flexible work trends more broadly. Plenty of people tweeted, posted or commented during the week.

Find out what was said on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Event highlights

Some of the highlights included:

Telework Congress
Google+ Hangout
CLICK! Digital Expo
Teleworkforce Conference
Telework in Action Workshop for HR and ICT Senior Executives in the Australian Public Service
Launch of the Anywhere Working Research Network Australia

See a full list of National Telework Week events at the bottom of the page.

Telework Congress - Melbourne, VIC

The Week began with the Telework Congress which was presented by a range of Telework Partners and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

A lecture hall full of people looking at a red-head lady on the screen in the front of the lecture hall Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the Week with an announcement that the Government, as a large employer, would aim to increase the take up of telework in the Australian Public Service to 12 per cent by 2020.

Prime Minister Gillard also participated in a live Question and Answer (Q&A) session delivered by telepresence.

(Read the full transcript)

Keynote presentations were also given by Bill Shorten, Minister for Employment & Workplace Relations, Financial Services & Superannuation (read the transcript of his speech); the Hon Jeffrey Bleich, US Ambassador to Australia; and Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

A number of recent reports and studies into flexible workplaces and workforce trends were also presented, including:

Colmar Brunton with Deloitte Access Economics: Creating jobs through NBN-enabled telework
Institute for a Broadband Enabled Society, Melbourne University: Telework, productivity and wellbeing [PDF 2.08 MB]

Head to the Telework Congress 2012 website to see the full program and download the presentations.

Google+ Hangout

ZDNet's Josh Taylor hosted a virtual panel discussion using Google Hangout (watch the video online) and was joined by a panel of experts, including:

Abul Rizvi, Deputy Secretary, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Jeanne DeWitt, JAPAC head of SMB sales, Google
Andrew Griffiths, Australia's number one small business author
Michael Fox, CEO, Shoes of Prey
Dr Yvette Blount, Telework researcher, Macquarie University

CLICK! Digital Expo - Brisbane, QLD

Telework Partners RDA Brisbane, along with the Business Success Group (BSG), presented the expo which brought together more than 40 exhibitors and a program of seminars, speakers, case studies and demonstrations.

The event explored how businesses and not-for-profit organisations can make the most of the digital economy by establishing strong digital strategies. Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, gave the welcome address – see the full program on the Expo website.

Some presentations and case studies are also available on the website, including the BSG/Microsoft Telework case studies.

Teleworkforce - Melbourne VIC

This half-day conference was hosted by Telework Partners Infoxchange Australia and explored the social and economic outcomes that telework can deliver to the community sector.

The conference was webcast live and recorded – you can watch the videos via the Infoxchange website.

Telework in Action Workshop for APS HR and ICT Senior Executives

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy hosted an event for senior executives in the Australian Public Service. The program explored the opportunities and challenges telework presents to government workers.

Projector screen showing a number of videos and a document. A number of people are sitting in front of the screen looking a person sitting beside the screen. Case studies were presented by Rose Clements-HR Director for Microsoft Australia, Jennifer Dudeck-Director of Global Employee Engagement for CISCO, and Chris Menadue-Director of Employee Performance for IP Australia.

A range of telework scenarios utilizing video conferencing were also demonstrated and discussed by the panel of speakers.

Launch of Anywhere Working Research Network Australia (AWRNA) - Sydney, NSW

Researchers across Australia got together to launch a network to coordinate research on the impact of telework and anywhere working. Research will focus particularly on organisational productivity, individual employees and employers, and broader social policy such as workforce participation and work-life balance.

Watch presentations from the launch event, including Dr Yvette Blount, the coordinator of the AAWRN, and Abul Rizvi, Deputy Secretary, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.