A More Connected Canberra: Workplace Insights Paper

The Foundation for Social Health (FSH) is a national initiative developed to improve mental health by increasing social connectivity. Late in 2024, we partnered with Redbridge Group to survey 1,139 ACT residents and gain an understanding of how changes to the nature of work, and specifically, fixed office workplace location impacted mental health outcomes. 

Key findings from this poll are:

• Almost half (49.3%) ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ struggled with their mental health, and an additional 12% identified as having a mental health issue actively seeking treatment. The results are slightly higher for younger people, and for women.
• 36% reported feeling unhappy or ambivalent about work, with almost 1 in 4 agreeing with the statement ‘Work is neither fulfilling or unfulfilling’, 8.2% felt that their workplace left them feeling ‘often unhappy and unfulfilled’, and 3.1% unhappy.
• 19.8% believed that social isolation and loneliness contributed to the mental health crisis. This was behind Economic Hardship (24%) and Overworking (20.4%)

A very ‘Canberra’ issue

Workers in the Australian Capital Territory have significantly higher entitlements to working from home than workers in other parts of Australia. 

• The ACT has the highest rate of loneliness of all Australian jurisdictions, with 40% of ACT residents reporting feeling lonely at least once per week
• 69% of employees in the ACT have an entitlement to work from home, almost 20 percentage points higher than the next closest jurisdiction
• In 2021, more than 30% of ACT employees worked only from home, the highest rate in Australia
• Nationally, 60% of ‘Managers’ and ‘Professionals’ usually work from home, compared with 21% of other occupations. 49.3% of Canberra’s workforce are ‘Managers’ and ‘Professionals’, well ahead of the national rate of 37.7%
• People who work from home are more likely to work when unwell, especially women

Regular social connections are key 

The Australians who are least likely to be lonely are those who are employed, partnered, or who see family and friends (in person) at least once a week. There is a strong correlation between regular in-person connection and reduced loneliness.

It is impossible to clinically treat every Canberran who experiences loneliness. With 40% of the population feeling lonely at least once a week this equates to nearly 150,000 individuals aged over 15. We quite literally do not have the healthcare workforce, nor the budget to fixate on meeting service demand. We need to address loneliness at its source: a lack of regular social connections. 

In Australia, participation in social, community and civic groups has been in decline since the 1970s, with the pandemic worsening people’s engagement in groups. 

For many people if they are not going into a workplace, they are not getting these social connections anywhere else. 

The potential health risks of remote work

According to recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, around 36% of the Australian workforce work from home at least once per week. When asked about hybrid working arrangements 88% of employees prefer partially working from home, with 60% leaning towards a part-time office and work from home arrangement.

Survey data from the United States shows that remote workers are 98% more likely to report being lonely than their fully onsite colleagues, and 179% more than their hybrid colleagues. We do not have similar data at this stage for Australia but the Foundation for Social Health is keen to undertake further analysis.

The rise of technology and its impact on isolation

In our own research, it’s clear that the shift to online and remote work has not only brought with it increased flexibility but also increased social isolation. Video conferencing and digital communication have replaced meeting room banter and water cooler conversations that maintain trust and build regular relational connections.

When surveyed, 1 in 5 ACT employees believed that the increased prevalence of technology in their daily lives was detracting from the quality of their regular social connections and negatively impacted their individual mental health. It’s concerning to see a similar statistic is mirrored in workplace isolation where 19.8% of employees now feel isolated or disconnected from their peers. 

Flexibility can equal overwork and burnout

Under the veil of flexibility can also come a bleeding of the work day where regular hours begin to encroach on personal time, essentially creeping into an employee's evenings or weekends. People who work from home are more likely to work overtime than people who do not work from home - 43% compared with 25%. The physical space of a workplace creates the hard boundary between work and home life but working from home can become a never-ending labyrinth of checking emails or completing work tasks after hours. 

It’s unsurprising that the predominance of digital communication and lack of genuine face-time with coworkers  is having a negative impact on mental health for employees in Canberra. The rise in loneliness in Australia has steadily increased since the introduction of smartphones and social media in 2008. 

This digital connection paradox reinforces the value of in-real-life interactions in our everyday lives. If how we spend our days is how we spend our lives, a large portion is spent at work. The average person will spend 90,000 hours in the workplace and it’s safe to say where we do this matters and will have a huge impact on employees quality of life. 

Working from home is disproportionately impacting women’s mental health

Recent studies reveal that the shift to remote work has had a pronounced negative impact on women’s mental health compared to men, particularly for those in domestic violence (DV) or coercive situations:

• 73% of women reported a decline in mental health; 42% experienced suicidal ideation (vs. 31% of men) (Women's Health Victoria, 2020). 
• Working from home causes higher levels of psychological distress in women than men: (VicHealth, 2021)
• 58% of women felt isolated while working from home, compared to 39% of men (Royal Society for Public Health, 2021)
• 44% of women reported developing musculoskeletal issues from home working versus 29% of men (Royal Society for Public Health, 2021)
• Women in abusive households faced heightened risks while working remotely: (AIHW, 2021).

These findings underscore the urgent need to address the unique mental health risks faced by women, particularly those in unsafe home environments, by fostering hybrid work policies that prioritise in-person social connections and mental health supports.

Spontaneous connection in the city

Canberra’s economic activity centre is an essential thread of the rich tapestry that is our city experience. Just because it currently tops the charts as Australia’s loneliest city it doesn’t mean that there is any shortage of wonder, personality or play to be found within our metropolis. If activated and planned correctly we can unlock a more connected Canberra. 

All of us have examples of bumping into old friends we haven’t seen (in what feels like Millennia) on our lunch breaks or stopping to stare at a new piece of public art that we never noticed before, on our walk to and from the office. This spontaneity and social connection improves our social, mental and physical health. 

It’s time to bring Canberra back together, starting with the place we spend the majority of our lives: the office. 

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Contact for further discussion

Melanie Wilde, Chief Executive Officer
0401 518 562
melanie@foundationdforsocialhealth.org.au

Louise Crossman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer
‍0410 475 676
louise@foundationforsocialhealth.org.au