Government looks at benefits of ABW

Government looks at benefits of ABWAccording to a report from JLL, the Government could cut its office area footprint by 40 per cent if it adopts activity-based working (ABW) in federal departments.The report from JLL, titled Activity Based Working: Application to Commonwealth Government, was presented to several government departments, including customs and border protection and immigration in early May.The findings of the report reveal the introduction of ABW into an organisation employing 1,000 people can save about $10 million a year on a portfolio of 100,000 sqm.JLL says the move to adopting ABW for government departments will require sufficient technology in workplaces to permit employees to be more mobile. The ABW concept enables employees to work in assigned areas without assigned desks, enhancing efficiency of office real estate.Government agencies to adopt the practice include the National Disability Insurance Agency in Geelong, which occupies a 19 sqm office designed in line with the ABW template. Macquarie Bank and Corrs Chambers Westgarth also adopted ABW in a bid to save on costs and make their workplaces more productive.Long-standing agencies are trying to make their use of space more efficient following a Finance Department policy implemented in 2013 that requires them to reduce the operational-density target for usable office area from 16 sqm to 14 sqm per occupied work point.JLL’s report reveals that the scope of savings in adopting ABW is huge and has the potential to free up great swathes of office real estate across the country. However, at the other end of the spectrum, moves to embrace ABW might pose a potential risk to future net office space demand, says the Australian Construction Industry Forum.