The ACTU will call for a four-day week in sectors that can support it, arguing that this will allow workers to benefit from productivity gains and technological advances.

It will further argue that reducing working hours, from a standard five days a week, is key to lifting living standards.

“Shorter working hours are good for both workers and employers,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said in a statement on Wednesday.

“They deliver improved productivity and allow working people to live happier, healthier and more balanced lives.”

In October last year Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and the state’s opposition both knocked back the idea of teachers trialling a four-day work week, after a report made the recommendation.

A Monash University survey of 8000 Australian Education Union members found only 30 per cent of teachers reach retirement, and a subsequent report by the university, endorsed by the Australian Education Union, made nine recommendations to address this, including pay rises and reduced class sizes.

Researchers said the working conditions of the state’s 52,000 government school teachers needed to be modernised – and a four-day working week should be trialed.

Nearly two-thirds of the teachers surveyed said a four-day working week “would support them to better deliver high-quality education”.

There were strong reservations, however, for students and the difficulty of timetabling a shorter school week.

“Making sure that it’s not just less time with the same expectations is important,” Monash researcher Dr Fiona Longmuir said at the time.

She pointed to widespread trials of four-day school weeks in the US, which had shown a reduction in bullying and fighting among students, but there was no conclusive evidence that the arrangement improved teacher retention.

Victorian Opposition education spokesperson Jess Wilson is not a fan.

“What we’re seeing now is doubled-up classrooms, classes being sent home because there aren’t enough teachers and reducing that week isn’t going to solve that problem, in fact it’s only going to put more pressure on the system,” she said.

Queensland updated its school policy at the start of 2024 which allowed government primary and secondary schools to trial flexible class schedules including four-day weeks and shorter days.

The state’s education department released a blueprint for schools to change class times and shorten the school week to help with teacher availability, along with student and staff “wellbeing and engagement”.

This change has allowed schools to explore alternative timetables, however the new Crisafulli Government is reviewing the blueprint.

The debate around a four-day work week for teachers highlights the complex challenges facing the education sector and the ongoing search for solutions to address teacher shortages and workload issues. 

O’Neil said workers in sectors that would not be able to support a four-day week could be given “more time off or fairer rosters”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he’s open to suggestions to boost productivity at the summit and the Government is ready for big reform.

“I’m up for big reform and we are a big reforming government,” Albanese told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“We have a big agenda ... we’re also up for ideas and we’re up for things that can be done immediately.

“Of course, if they will improve the economy, then of course we’ll give it consideration.”

The economic roundtable, from next Tuesday to Thursday, will focus on lifting productivity, bringing together representatives from business, unions and civil society in Canberra.

Albanese said more needed to be done to address the issue.

“We certainly need to do better on productivity, it’s been pretty flat for more than two decades now,” he said.

“It’s certainly our objective not just to do it in three years but to put in place measures that improve productivity over a long period of time.”

But the Prime Minister talked down reports he had told Treasurer Jim Chalmers to tone down expectations of tax reform resulting from the summit, saying the pair was in regular discussions on the economic agenda.

Chalmers, who also downplayed the reports, said the summit would be about finding new ways to lift the lagging productivity.

“We are aligned,” he told ABC radio.

“We have an ambitious agenda that we’re focused on delivering, and this economic reform roundtable is a good opportunity to shake the tree for more ideas in our economy.

“We’ve got a productivity challenge in our economy.

“We’ve got an agenda to deal with it, and we’re bringing people together to grapple with the next steps when it comes to making our economy more productive.”

(with AAP)