Work, life and workplace culture: the Australian Work and Life Index 2008

This report summarises findings from the second Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI) survey of work-life interaction in Australia. It builds on the findings of the 2007 survey (indexed at TD/TNC 96.21). Over 2800 workers representative of the Australian workforce were surveyed. A subset of 1400 respondents provided opinions on issues related to workplace culture, unsocial work hours and public/private employment. AWALI measures perceptions of work-life interaction focussing on: ‘general interference’ (i.e., the frequency with which work interferes with responsibilities or activities...  [+] Show more

This report summarises findings from the second Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI) survey of work-life interaction in Australia. It builds on the findings of the 2007 survey (indexed at TD/TNC 96.21). Over 2800 workers representative of the Australian workforce were surveyed. A subset of 1400 respondents provided opinions on issues related to workplace culture, unsocial work hours and public/private employment. AWALI measures perceptions of work-life interaction focussing on: ‘general interference’ (i.e., the frequency with which work interferes with responsibilities or activities outside work), ‘time strain’ (i.e., the frequency with which work restricts time with family or friends); work-to-community interaction, measuring the frequency with which work affects workers’ ability to develop or maintain connections and friendships in their local community; satisfaction with overall work-life ‘balance’; and, frequency of feeling rushed or pressed for time. Together these five measures of work-life interaction present an overall work-life index that is scaled from 0 (best work-life interaction) to 100 (worst work-life interaction). Key findings from the survey include: (i) South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian respondents reported the best work-life interaction; (ii) part-time workers, on average, have a better work-life interaction than full-timers; (iii) work continues to interfere with the rest of life for a large proportion of workers: over half of all employees felt that work sometimes, often or almost always interferes with activities outside work; (iv) the most common type of work-life interference is restriction of time with family and friends due to work; (v) work to community spill over is also widespread with 44.6 per cent of men and 40.2 per cent of women feeling that work sometimes, often or almost always affects their community connections; (vi) around 55 per cent of employees frequently (often/almost always) feel rushed or pressed for time. As in 2007, women are especially rushed and pressed for time. A majority of both full-time and part-time women often or almost always feel rushed; and (vii) despite these pressures, most Australians remain satisfied with their work-life relationship: the majority (68.3 per cent) are satisfied with their overall work-life balance and there is no gender difference in satisfaction.

The 2009 survey is indexed at TD/TNC 96.988.