A new study from the ANU has found time needed for health and wellbeing is being displaced by working time, and time recovering from work.

The findings come in the same week Greens leader Richard Di Natale suggested a four-day working week would be beneficial for Australians.

At a speech at the National Press Club, he said it would allow people to spend more time on the things that make life worth living, such as family, sport and volunteering.

According to the ANU study, the vast majority of workers have insufficient quality time to carry out the four protective health activities; eating well, restorative sleep, physical activity and social connection.

"When time was scarce time spent on healthy behaviours was frequently shortened or abandoned," the report states.

There were 55 people across four employment sectors interviewed, and the majority of those did little to no exercise.

"Instead, the time was allocated for more work or to recover from work, either alone or with others."

"Unlike physical activity, eating and sleeping could not be ignored, so instead the time spent on them was shortened as much as possible."

Dinner was often the longest meal and chance for time with family and friends, however being present wasn't always an option due to non-standard work hours or days that were unpredictable.

Time scarcity affected workers differently depending on their care responsibilities at home, especially for those with both paid and unpaid responsibilities.

The report recommended policy changes should be implemented, including to eliminate managerial discretion of the right to request flexible work, and seeing this right as available to every worker.

The report was produced by National Health and Medical Research Council Research School of Population Health senior fellow and associate professor Jane Dixon, and research fellow Lara Corr.

Dr Corr said more than 40 per cent of employed Australians work more than 40 hours a week, despite research showing health starts to suffer after 39 hours.

"Working time is a really understudied aspect of people's wellbeing," Dr Corr said.

She said the latest research was about trying to understand how working hours influenced the capacity to maintain healthy behaviours. If they're not undertaken, it "underpins a huge number of the chronic diseases".

"Once you hear it, it makes so much sense. But certainly speaking to people, we didn't expect it to be so clear," she said.

"We also didn't expect there to be such pressure across the work hierarchy," she said, referring to blue and white collar workers, and management positions.

"What we're really arguing is you can't really look at work and life so separately when work is effectively taking all of your quality time."

Dr Corr said longer working hours were influencing productivity and happiness on the job, and family life.

"What is absolutely true is people need to have time to rest, connect with people they love, contribute to the community, sleep and eat.

"Right now, people's lives are being squeezed to the margins," Dr Corr said.