Politics have flooded the media recently with the Federal Budget and Federal Election being held within just six weeks of each other. Among these, we’ve seen a broad range of topics hit the headlines including; Medicare, subsidised child care, tax cuts, energy rebates… and even funding for Adelaide pandas?
One topic in particular, however, has sparked debate on both sides of the coin: the future of office mandates. A theme that really kicked off in the wake of the pandemic is still ongoing while companies and their employees grapple with transitioning back into the office routine.
So what has the media made of the great debate?
We’re data nerds and this is the kind of topic our dedicated team loves to explore. So, with the help of our very own media intelligence platform, we set up keyword searches related to the return-to-office topic and watched the results over the past month.
Enough teasing, here’s what we found!
Trends in media coverage
Overview
Overview Chart - Medianet Media Intelligence Platform
From the beginning of March, we could discern the arguments for remote or hybrid working and those in favour of a full five-day office mandate.
The data showed us that supporters of remote or hybrid working tended to advocate for the money and time saved on the daily commute, flexible arrangements for women and parents of young children, and the economic contribution of remote working for regional and rural areas.
Opponents of remote or hybrid working focused on the public sector, claiming negative impacts on productivity and public sector expenditure, potential implications for career progression, and economic challenges for metropolitan hospitality and retail businesses.
The leading drivers of the conversation were federal politicians, Peter Dutton, Jane Hume, Katy Gallagher, Anthony Albanese and MP Murray Watt, who fiercely contested each other’s opponents' policies. And so, very quickly, the great office mandate debate became a proxy battleground for the federal election.
Coverage distribution
Coverage Timeline Chart - Medianet Media Intelligence Platform
The topic has taken quite the journey over the past month. Firstly, the period saw a 98% increase in volumes compared with the previous month. This has become a hot topic for the Australian press.
Using our Intelligence platform Dashboards, we could identify clear drivers of media coverage spikes.
4 March - Focus on the Australian Public Sector
- An announcement from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton kicked off the conversation given that the Coalition planned to mandate APS employees return to the office five days per week as reported widely across Australian national and metropolitan mastheads.
- Sparking initial media interest, AFR and Nine Publishing outlets framed the policy as “forcing” public servants back into the office, while broadcast outlets tended to discuss public sector efficiency, suggesting this was part of Dutton’s “war on the public sector.”
23 March - Federal Budget renewed focus “Work from Home becomes election battleground”
- Debate on public sector office mandates re-emerged amid the Federal Budget announcement. While no budgetary commitments were made, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leveraged the opportunity to reinforce benefits of remote or hybrid working.
- YouGov released election polling data that showed opposition to the Coalition’s office-mandate policy earlier in the month particularly from outer-suburbs in metropolitan areas. The poll results amplified the political nature of discussions positioning remote work as a key election issue.
- Australian media coverage of remote working frequently cited YouGov’s research, which highlighted increasing public support for workplace flexibility. This data linked office mandates to declining Coalition support in suburban electorates.
31 March - The scope of conversation widens
- A well-timed AFR Workforce Summit and the release of the AIHR survey drove another spike in media coverage, but this time with media focusing on a broader range of sectors.
- Media headlines challenge the assumption that outside of the public sector, companies are increasingly mandating return to the office policies.
7 April - Dutton U-turns
- Dutton’s change of heart was widely circulated in ABC Radio bulletins, particularly the news bite: “in a dramatic turn Mr. Dutton says he's listened to concerns from workers.”
- Sentiment towards Dutton took a sharp turn with outlets almost universally deriding the “backflip”, including comments the move is "humiliating" for the Coalition and an “Own Goal” amid the federal election battleground.
- Increased focus from News Corp outlets at the beginning of April. The Australian overtook Australian Financial Review as the leading newspaper through this period, and News Corp metropolitan mastheads covered multiple stories on the topic on Monday 7 April. These trends reflect the increased prominence and reach of this topic to channels outside Canberra.
- What was initially a topic largely focused on public sector staffing and working conditions has swelled into something much bigger and now we are witnessing a mea culpa from the Opposition leader just three weeks out from the election.
Key themes and topics of discussion
A timeline of political quotes
Politicians had a lot to say on the topic and when pieced together on a timeline, we can see how the topic evolved.
How are different media types, outlets, and journalists framing the topic?
Broadcast and newspaper reporting were highly represented by Canberra outlets
- The Canberra Times was the leading outlet across the entire period, leading Online news outlet, and second leading newspaper outlet - eclipsing metropolitan counterparts. This coverage was highly localised, focusing on work-from-home habits among Canberrians, rates of Canberra workers working from cafes, bars and restaurants, and potential solutions to make public transport cheaper.
- ABC Canberra was the leading radio outlet to cover the issue across the full period.
- This reflects the political nature of the discussion, and that federal public servants tend to be the most directly impacted by the issue, therefore discussing the issue.
Top 5 Outlets Chart filtered by Media Type - Medianet Media Intelligence Platform
AFR Workplace Summit brought renewed attention to the theme
- The AFR Workforce Summit prompted refocus on the topic, and brought the non-government corporate sector into the conversation, releasing a series of stories unpacking the current state of play regarding perceptions and trends for remote working.
- This topic was quickly picked up across print and online outlets, with News Corp, AAP and Australian Community Media all amplifying the headline ‘Huge Aussie WFH myth debunked’. Sydney Morning Herald’s senior economy writer Matt Wade talked extensively with ABC Radio about the normalisation of remote and hybrid working arrangements in the post-COVID landscape.
- Still, the political focus remained prominent, with Labor MP Murray Watt directly attacking the Coalition’s remote working approach during his keynote address at the Summit.
AAP parliamentary and politics journalists dominated
- AAP journalists were more highly represented in terms of number of media items. AAP’s Parliamentary reporter Dominic Giannini and AAP Federal Politics reporter Andrew Brown were at the top of this list, reinforcing the proximity of this issue to the federal election and Labor versus Coalition’s respective policies.
- Linda Silmalis was the only News Corp reporter to feature among leading journalists. Silmalis was responsible for several prominent metropolitan stories focusing on Anthony Albanese’s estimates that returning to the office an additional two days per week will cost commuters up to $5,000 a year, which was a leading theme of discussions across the period.
Social conversation
Leading media influencers on social media:
#1 - 9 news
The 9 News Facebook account produced two posts that attracted a combined 1.3k engagements in the form of likes, shares or comments. Albanese’s projection of increased commuter costs generated the most discussion. The second post focused on the counter narrative that workers reluctant to return to the office may be overlooked for a promotion. Responses to each post indicated users prefer flexibility or quality of life over higher pay and longer hours.
#2 - AFR
For this particular topic, the AFR outranked Australian publications in terms of audience engagement. The key stories shared to its social channels tended to highlight opposition to, and debunk myths associated with remote working. The leading post focused on Peter Dutton walking back his initial commitment to bring public servants back into the office five days a week.
#3 - Adam Creighton
The Australian’s Adam Creighton was the third leading media influencer on public social channels. He posted on X following Peter Dutton’s initial office mandate policy. The post itself was largely neutral, Creighton asked if those working from home would be willing to take a 10% pay cut, and suggested this would save “hundreds of billions of dollars”, but tended to attract strong arguments for, and against his suggestion.
Summing up the conversation
So what lessons can be learned from the media cycle’s assessment of the great office mandate? In our observations of media coverage since the beginning of March, our team uncovered some key insights.
Media certainly gave both perspectives a solid run, at least in initial weeks, but overall arguments for a remote or hybrid working arrangement had a stronger share of the conversation, and ultimately forced Peter Dutton to renege on his commitment.
Flexible work wins - Labor had the upper hand in the press
Key arguments from Labor had more pickup in media coverage across the full analysis period.
- Costs of commuting purported by Anthony Albanese during the federal budget announcement was often used in media coverage headlines across print and online and became a key talking point on social media channels.
- Flexibility afforded to women was also a common trend in media discussions. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher contributed to these mentions early in the month, with Australian media widely picking up on her comments that the policy would limit work opportunities for women and consequentially impact economic growth.
- All eyes were on Labor in the week of the federal budget. The $5,000 additional commuter fee dominated headlines and news bulletins, providing many opportunities to profile Anthony Albanese and his criticism of the Coalitions ‘attack on women.’
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