More Melburnians working from home than any other Australian capital city: See how it compares
Melbourne has emerged as Australia’s remote work capital with nearly two-thirds of employees regularly working from home, as the Victorian government pushes to make it a legal right.
Melbourne is the work from home capital of Australia, with almost two thirds of employees logging in from their home office at least once a week.
The finding was revealed in the 2025 Australian Digital Inclusion Index which also found that 15.9 per cent of Australians faced internet connectivity issues or network interruptions, especially in regional and remote areas.
Melburnians’ WFH rate was 64.6 per cent — seven percentage points more than workers in Sydney and Brisbane, while 47 per cent of regional Victorians regularly worked remotely. The lowest work from home rate of any capital was Canberra with 41.1 per cent.
The finding comes as the Victorian government pushes legislation to give employees the legal right to work from home for at least two days a week, if their role allows.
The report, Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide, also found that almost half of Australians reported recently using generative AI tools. Usage was highest among students (79 per cent) and 18 to 34-year-olds (60 per cent).
The study’s chief investigator Prof Julian Thomas from RMIT University said GenAI had the potential to deliver benefits for all.
“But its impact will be greatest if it’s implemented fairly and no one is left behind in the digital transformation,” he said.
“People with lower digital skills may be less likely to benefit from AI, while being more exposed to new risks such as scams, misleading content and invasive data practices.
“As technologies like GenAI and new security tools evolve quickly, people need to keep refreshing their digital skills to stay current.”
People most commonly used GenAI for generating text, creating images and producing programming code.
The index is a joint project by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, RMIT and Swinburne universities and Telstra.
Chief Investigator Prof Anthony McCosker from Swinburne said the report showed major gaps about who can take part in the digital economy.
“Digital exclusion remains a big challenge, particularly for older Australians, those in remote communities and people experiencing social and economic disadvantage,” he said.
“It’s more than just an inconvenience; digital exclusion cuts people off from vital services and opportunities in education, work and health.”
But the report did find that Australians’ overall skills and confidence to use digital technologies had improved — up 8.7 percentage points to 73.6 per cent in the past two years. And the biggest gains were among those aged 75 and over.
Victoria’s proposed WFH laws has sparked push back from the state’s business community, saying the changes were unnecessary, harmful and out of step from workplace realities.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Sally Curtain said most businesses already offered flexible arrangements without government intervention.
“There is no problem that needs fixing. In other words: ‘We’ve got this’,” she said.
The Melbourne City Council, led by Labor-aligned Lord Mayor Nick Reece, also opposed the work laws as it sought it bring more people into the city and tackle office occupancy rates.
Councillor Rafael Camillo said: “Workplace decisions are not one size fits all’’.
