NSW Government Expands Focus to Support 1.27 Million Night-Time Workers

Since coming to office the Minns Labor Government has passed three rounds of vibrancy reforms, largely aimed at reviving the hospitality and entertainment sectors. For the first time in NSW, the government is broadening its policy focus to increase the wellbeing, safety and economic contribution of the state’s entire night workforce.

This night worker agenda has begun with Australian first research to address significant data gaps on night workers which include nurses, paramedics, hospitality workers and drivers. 

New research from the Office of the 24-Hour Commissioner has revealed critical information about the night workforce (work between 6:00pm and 6:00am) including:

• Size: NSW has highest number of night workers in Australia 1.27 million (28 per cent of NSW workforce), followed by Victoria 1.02 million and Queensland 870,000.
• Industries: Health and social assistance 193,200, Accommodation and food services 158,300, Professional, science and technical 137,000, Education and teaching 131,000, Retail and trade 114,000, and Transport 77,000.
• Demographics: 54.2 per cent male and 45.8 per cent female workers, with younger workers (age 15-24) and mid-career (age 35–54) the most likely to work at night.
• Where they work: City and Inner South 18.3 per cent, Parramatta 6.9 per cent, North Sydney and Hornsby 6.4 per cent, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie 5.5 per cent and Inner-South West 4.6 per cent.
• Where they live: North Sydney and Hornsby 8 per cent, City and Inner South 6.1 per cent, Inner South West 5.8 per cent, Inner West 5.5 per cent and South West 4.9 per cent.
• Biggest night worker hubs Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct (4735 workers), Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct (4595), and Port Kembla Precinct (4595)

Research and roundtables between government, workers, employers and unions has also revealed these are some of the most vulnerable workers in our society, facing security, health, transport, financial and childcare challenges.

Launching at today’s 2025 NEON Forum the NSW Night Worker Action Plan 2025 – 2028 sets out priority actions to address these challenges and opportunities, including:
• Building evidence base for night worker policy decisions: increasing research on profile of night-time workforce including how, when and where they live and work.
• Improving transport options: collaboration between Transport for NSW and the Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner to increase public transport in key night worker hubs.

New gig worker hubs: explore locations and implement a pilot program for hubs offering places to rest, recharge, and access essential amenities such as food and toilets for gig workers.
• Micro-markets: explore pilots of small-scale unstaffed healthy food vending options in employment precincts to improve access to affordable and nutritious food.
• Health and wellbeing support: developing resources to support night-time workers achieve better health outcomes in areas including sleep, nutrition and mental health.

The new action plan comes after the night workforce was identified as a key priority under the NSW 24-Hour Economy Strategy and moves beyond research to propose practical, targeted interventions for workers who keep the state running at night.

The full action planned can be found here.

Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham says:

“After a decade of lockouts and then lockdowns, our number one mission was to unlock the hospitality and entertainment sectors. Now we’re widening the mission to a much greater range of workers and economic opportunities.

“This huge group of workers have never had a comprehensive policy approach before. Until we started this work, we didn’t even know how big it was. Now we know our night workers represent a big economic opportunity and have large number of unmet needs.

“Night-time workers often have less secure work, fewer transport options and even struggle to get a coffee before they start work or a decent meal when they finish. We need to start planning as well for the night as we do for the day.

“The NSW Productivity Commissioner told us that we could boost our economy by over $8 billion by increasing the intensity of our night-time economy to match Victoria’s. Better serving this enormous group of workers is a great way of boosting our productivity.”

24-Hour Economy Commissioner Michael Rodrigues says:

“We’ve heard from night workers and employers about their challenges, and this action plan sets out the next steps for the government to work alongside businesses and industry to better support these vital workers.

“We look forward to supporting the implementation of this plan and making the hours between 6:00pm and 6:00am more welcoming and vibrant for the people working throughout the night and early morning, across all industries, to keep the state moving.”