The average Canberran is being paid Australia's highest salary for the shortest working week in the country, according to a new income and wealth report.
AMP and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling said today workers in the capital average 37 hours and 42 minutes a week in the office.
It is about 2 1/2 hours less than the country's longest working week, recorded in the Northern Territory and Western Australia at more than 40 hours.
Report co-author Professor Alan Duncan said the disparities in wages and working hours between states and territories could be attributed to different labour markets.
"In the Northern Territory and Western Australia, you're looking at a high proportion working in the mining sector, whereas in Canberra there's a high proportion in the public service," he said.
Drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia Survey 2002 and 2009, the report said an average working week in Queensland totalled 39 hours and 54 minutes, 42 minutes longer than NSW on 39 hours and 12 minutes.
Victorian workers recorded an average of 39 hours and six minutes at work and South Australia an average of 39 hours.
While the time spent at work varied between states and territories, workers across the nation all experienced an increase in hours of employment.
In 1985, men working full-time recorded an average working week of 39.5 hours, almost three hours less than the 2011 average of 42.3 hours.
Time spent at work also increased for women, from an average of 36.4 hours in 1985 to the present day total of 38.6 hours. This lengthened working week has led to increased stress among workers, with Professor Duncan saying that 30 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women reported feeling pushed for time.
''It's either to do with balancing work and family or their commitment to take too much on," he said.
The report included a profile for the average Australian, who typically spends 45.9 per cent of the day sleeping and eating.
Almost 17 per cent of the day is spent at work, 17 per cent with the family and the remaining 20 per cent socialising.
.gif)
