A recent Public Service Commission survey, which questioned 75 percent of public servants, showed only 8 percent of Commonwealth bureaucrats were working entirely at home down from a peak of about 64 percent in August.
The latest survey showed the rest were either back in their regular workplace or doing a combination – known as hybrid working.
Government agencies said about 40 percent of staff were hybrid working, which could include working as little as a few hours at home or greater. About 22,000 requests from staff to work from home were approved but that was across 30 agencies and departments.
About half of those public servants successfully applying to work from home were from the Australian Taxation Office.
The ATO has approved more than 10,000 staff requests since September.
The Social Services Department, which has about 2200 staff, had only 62 requests and rejected fourteen of them.
The Australian Public Service Commission said it’s ultimately a choice for individual agencies as to whether staff can carry out their duties effectively from home.
