Useful links

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Telework in Australia

Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
http://www.innovation.gov.au/
DIISR's submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications' Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network is available at www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/subs/Sub219.pdf (a PDF file). The Standing Committee tabled its Broadening the Debate report www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/report.htm in August 2011.
This article from DIISR's staff newsletter discusses the technology behind the NBN and why fibre is critical.

Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
The National Digital Economy Strategy includes eight goals, one of which is increased teleworking. The Telework Forum Outcomes Report and Next Generation Telework: A Literature Review were released on 4 November 2011. These are available at www.dbcde.gov.au/telework.

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
The Department has opened its Suburban Jobs Program with the objective of assisting state and local governments to plan for and provide enduring employment opportunities in the growing outer suburbs of our major capital cities. Part of the Program's objectives is to demonstrate innovative ways in which the Digital Economy can be used. Applications for grant funding under the Program can now be submitted and will close at 2pm AEDT on Friday 17 February 2012.
Visit www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/suburbanjobs/ for more information.

The NSW Road Traffic Authority
The RTA has published a new manual to assist people in setting up and implementing a teleworking programme within their departmnet or organisation. The new manual is entitled A NSW Teleworking Manual: A comprehensive guide to setting up and implementing a teleworking program and it can be found at http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/teleworking. 

The Australian state of Victoria has a selection of telework-related resources available.

TravelSmart Western Australia: http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/14914.asp

Urban Ecology Australia
A general discussion of telework 
http://www.urbanecology.org.au/topics/telecommuting.html  

Remote Area Planning and Development Board (RAPAD)
http://www.rapad.com.au/content/view/197/240/  

Implementing telework

These sites have links to other websites and resources that could be of assistance to organisations implementing telework arrangements.

For a selection of international telework web sites with many resources available visit:
 All sites in the WebRing

Telework New Zealand, one of the leading telework resources in Australasia since 1989 (and author of this Telework Australia web site). Telework New Zealand can also offer on-line training for teleworkers.
http://www.telework.co.nz

The Sloan Work and Family Research Network has prepared Fact Sheets which provide statistical answers to some
important questions about work-family and work/life issues. This Fact Sheet includes statistics about Telework.

JALA International, the site of Jack Nilles who invented the terms ‘telecommuting’ and ‘telework’ in 1973.
http://www.jala.com

Gil Gordon began working in the telework field in 1982. His site contains a great deal of useful information, together with many links to other information sources.
http://www.gilgordon.com

Workshifting.com is the home site for a growing community of people who are shifting their work to new locations using 'web commuting'. The site features recent research by Citrix Online and introduces the Worldwide Workplace Forum.
http://www.workshifting.com

ITAC the Telework Advisory Group for World at Work
http://www.workingfromanywhere.org

The Telework Coalition is a non-profit American organisation which promotes telework.
http://www.telcoa.org/

The Mid-Atlantic Telework Advisory Council (MATAC) has considerable information available including telework guides for managers and employees and an outline of IBM’s mobility program.
http://www.m-atac.org/

Telework Exchange an American telework website.
http://www.teleworkexchange.com/

The United Kingdom Telecommuters Association
http://www.tca.org.uk

The United Kingdom Telework Association
http://www.telework.org.uk/

The Canadian Telework Association
http://www.ivc.ca/

The Telework Collaborative (USA)
http://www.teleworkcollaborative.com/

David Fleming is a United States-based telework consultant and partner in the Telework Collaborative. http://www.davidflemingltd.com

The Telecommuting Jobs website offers a number of tools for employers, helping to set up and manage the Work at Home Workforce.
http://www.tjobs.com

Commonwealth of Virginia's Roadmap to Telework

Note: There are many books on telework available online and at book stores.

Telework resources

Case studies

Griffith Hack Travel Smart Business Case Toolkit
This Toolkit has been designed to calculate the benefits of the Travel Smart program to Griffith Hack. The benefits rely on a reduction in car usage, with a corresponding increase in cycling, walking and telework.
http://www.travelsmart.vic.gov.au/doi/doielect.nsf/
2a6bd98dee287482ca256915001cff0c/c4e6793615ca4372ca256ff2001e970a/
$FILE/Griffith%20Hack%20Business%20Case%20Tool%20output.pdf (PDF)

Katrina packs powerful case for working remotely
The following article outlines the business case for telework in the face of natural disasters. The financial trauma inflicted by Katrina in the United States also hit Australian businesses which were forced to raise prices to cope with increased transportation costs.
http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/newsandevents/News/October_05/
teleworking_feature.htm

Road Traffic Authority — Telecentre projects
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/usingroads/traveldemandmanagement/teleworking/rta_telecentres.html

For a variety of other international case studies, the following links could be useful:

Commuter Challenge is a non-profit organisation that has been fostering public/private partnerships to find solutions to regional transportation issues in the State of Washington.
http://www.commuterchallenge.org/cc/csintro2.html

Telework Exchange is a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework and serving the emerging educational and communication requirements of the Federal teleworker community. It provides a selection of case studies at the following link.
http://www.teleworkexchange.com/news-and-resources/resources/case%20studies

Commuter Connections, a regional network of transportation organizations coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, has made a number of new case studies available.
http://www.mwcog.org/commuter2/commuter/teleworking/TeleworkingCaseStudies.html

The University of South Florida
http://www.nctr.usf.edu/clearinghouse/casestudies.htm

Office of Personnel Management (for the status of telework in the United States Federal Government)
http://www.telework.gov/Reports_and_Studies/tw_rpt05/status-intro.aspx

Occupational health and safety

Comcare provides a comprehensive overview of the approved standards and regulations associated with occupational health and safety in Australia. 
http://www.comcare.gov.au/
State and Territory resources are also available on our Resources pages

A global standard for occupational health and safety, OHSAS 18001, has been created through the concerted effort of a number of the world's leading national standards bodies, certification bodies and specialist consultancies. It is used by a number of Australian companies.

Praxiom has developed a 'plain English' guide to OHSAS 18001.

Information and communications technology

Attend Anywhere is an Australian company specialising in providing a 'communications platform' using high-definition video conferencing technology.

Not only does Skype provide free person-to-person video calling and economical VoIP telephone calling but it can also be used for instant messaging and has a range of "extra" applications that can provide file sharing, desk-sharing, conferencing and other collaboration tools.

Citrix Online's GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar and GoToMyPC products provide a range of on-line meeting and presentation services for users who do not require (or do not have the bandwidth for) video interaction.

Dim Dim provides an innovative platform for on-line meetings, whiteboards, chat, desk- and file-sharing, and presentations. This open source product is available free, with some limitations.

Group 4 Networks provides a virtual PC accessible over the Internet at any time using a 'software as service' model.

Cisco provides a wide range of products for online working and meeting. Of particular interest are its telepresence options and its online meeting tools.

Ozone conferencing claims to be the UK's most advanced teleconferencing and webconferencing service.

CO2NeutralConferencing.com is one of the world’s first carbon neutral providers of audio, web, video and event conferencing solutions. The whole purpose of the business is to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint by using conferencing technology rather than travelling to non-essential face to face meetings.
http://www.co2neutralconferencing.com/

Taxation

The Australian Taxation Office
http://www.ato.gov.au

Virtual team management and telework training materials

Training for both teleworkers and their managers is an important part of the success of any telework initiative. Many changes in technology and skill sets could be involved once employees start working away from the traditional office. The following links could be of use to any organisation intending to start a telework initiative.

Aspin Consulting
Aspin Training offers accredited Diploma and Certificate courses in E-business in Leading and Managing Teleworkers as well as Certificate courses in Data Knowledge Management.
http://www.aspinonlineconsulting.com.au/

Tim Russell & Company and Training Advances
http://www.timrussellgroup.com/index.html

Coutts Communications
http://www.couttscommunications.com/index.html

Knowledge Ability (UK)
http://www.knowab.co.uk/wbwfeelingtogether.pdf

The Telework Collaborative (USA)
http://www.teleworkcollaborative.com/

The publication Managing Success with Teleworkers (ISBN: 1 894922 98 0)
http://www.jedlet.com/learnhowto.asp?lang=EN&product%5Fid=1%2D894922%2D98%2D0&lang=EN

The Canadian Telework Association
http://www.ivc.ca/Part8.html

Office of Personnel Management the United States Federal Government
http://www.telework.gov/

Telework for Individuals
Lifestyle Careers is an online recruitment job board specialising in flexible employment and work at home positions

www.flexjobs.com has many telecommuting jobs listed.

Rat Race Rebellion, maintained by Christine Durst and Michael Haaren, who provide virtual-career training to the US Department of State, offers screened telework jobs and projects and a weekly telework jobs bulletin at no charge.

Hire My Mum enables skilled mums to combine the best of both worlds by working from their home office and providing business owners with valuable workers for one-off projects or on a more permanent part-time basis.

Guidance on the tax implications of teleworking for individuals is provided by the Australian Tax Office at http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.asp?doc=/content/33089.htm.