How lower public transport costs have shifted the dial on one Australian city’s return to office

Brisbane is leading the charge as more Australian workers return to the office, new CBRE data shows.

CBD office attendance nationwide averaged 75% of pre-COVID levels in Q4 – up from 72% in the prior quarter and 70% at the start of last year, according to CBRE’s latest Australian Return to Office Indicator.

CBRE’s Australian Head of Office Research Tom Broderick noted that Brisbane had experienced the biggest improvement in the past 12 months, with average weekly attendance rates rising from 78% to 88%, largely due to the introduction of 50 cent public transport fares.

“While office attendance has risen across all of Australia’s CBD markets, the smaller cities of Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide have maintained the strongest attendance rates, which are close to pre-COVID levels on peak days,” Mr Broderick said.

“Brisbane has been the standout following the now permanent cut in public transport fares. While most of the boost to public transport usage has been on weekends, there is also clear evidence of a lift in peak hour weekday usage, which is driving better office attendance.”

CBRE’s data highlights that average weekly attendance rates have climbed from 89% to 90% in Perth, by 81% to 83% in Adelaide and by 54% to 65% in Canberra since Q4 2023.

In Sydney, office attendance has improved from 72% to a 76% weekly average. Interestingly, Sydney is showing the largest discrepancy of any city between the weekly average and peak day attendance, which is averaging 87% of pre-COVID levels on Tuesdays.

Melbourne office attendance has improved by about the same rate as Sydney over the past 12 months, rising from 57% to 61% as of Q4 2024.

Peak day Melbourne attendance has climbed to 71%on Thursdays, while Fridays are still the quietest day.

Hybrid work remains prevalent across the country, although CBRE’s report points to organisations placing a heightened emphasis on the benefits of physical office attendance, including collaboration, strengthening company culture, networking and mentoring younger employees.

And it's not just an Australian trend, with early February data suggesting that office attendance in the US has reached 54% of pre-COVID levels after stagnating at around 50% over the past two years.

This follows Trump’s executive order last month requiring more than 3 million federal workers to return to the office full-time.