Telecommuting offers many benefits for the employer, employee and community, but unfortunately many Australian employers do not support their employees working from home. I currently have everything in place to work from home, though the policy at my workplace does not encourage me to use this option.

Interesting that this article is published on a Telstra web site. I work for Telstra and they won't let me telework. I have a phone line at home and an ADSL connection. I use a laptop computer for my work. Just about all my work in on my keyboard & phone (occasionally I walk to the printer). My output is measures in widgets. I'm sure there is an opportunity here for Australia's premier communications company to lead by example. If Telstra can demonstrate that teleworking is effective, then they will be in a good position to sell it. They might even profit from it!!!

Well put Ricky.

I also have everything in place to perform all my duties from home yet am actively discouraged from doing so. While I firmly believe that Telstra office staff need to attend their place of work on a regular basis to keep up with current processes, policies, news, attend meetings and to maintain working relationships with colleagues, I know that working from home makes my home/family life easier as I don't incur wasted travelling time and costs and it also reduces the risks associated with my mode of transport (I ride a motorcycle, often when it is wet). Other benifits I see are: a reduction in the chances of staff getting sick during winter not just for people like me but also for others who use public transport (and who have to wait for buses/trains in the cold and then travel with other, sick commuters), a reduction the number of the 'sickies' that are taken for a multitude of non-medical reasons and, the main point of this article, an appreciable reduction in greenhouse gas production by Telstra staff. Another, more concrete advantage I see for Telstra should they decide to get serious with this is that they could considerably reduce staff accommodation costs. If, for example, 2 staff worked 50% at their work site and 50% at home, obviously the two of them would only require one desk between them at work. It seems odd that Telstra is espousing the virtues of this new way of working to others yet don't want to use it themselves even when their own staff intranet site points to the quote, "In the July 2007 Sensis Business Index, 22 per cent of businesses surveyed reported that they, or their employees, teleworked and that it was having an overwhelmingly positive impact on their business."