Victoria ceded its lawmaking powers on workplace affairs decades ago, raising questions about whether Allan’s proposal was realistic.

But Resolve director Jim Reed said it was clear that workers liked the general idea of more flexible work, which research suggests could boost productivity.

“Formalising work arrangements that some enjoy, like working from home or shorter weeks, gets a pretty warm reception,” Reed said.

“But we’ve got to remember that this is a gut reaction, before people have considered this in the context of trade-offs or broader productivity.”

The four-day work week was put onto the roundtable agenda by the Australian Council of Trade Unions last week. It cited two studies showing companies performed better when they allowed three-day weekends. But economist Richard Holden rubbished the idea and described the studies in an opinion piece for The Australian Financial Review as “seriously flawed”.

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“They lend zero weight to the idea that introducing a four-day work week would maintain (let alone boost) productivity, or even increase the wellbeing of workers,” he wrote.

Total support for a four-day work week was recorded at 66 per cent, while 21 per cent were unsure and just 13 per cent were against. Respondents were asked if they would work four days a week on the same pay if they were forced to complete the same amount of work.

More than double the number of Coalition voters supported the shortened work week (54 per cent) than those who said they did not like it (22 per cent).

The questions on workplace affairs do not mention how such policies might affect firms’ profitability and productivity. But the high level of support for flexible work suggests these industrial reforms will remain a talking point.

Australians work about 32 hours per week on average, according to the International Labour Organisation – slightly fewer than comparable nations such as Canada and New Zealand. However, workers have received a diminishing share of productivity gains through higher wages since the 1980s, with more wealth transferring to business profits.

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Last term, Labor passed laws that gave employees more scope to request flexible work under the Fair Work Act. Business groups opposed any new laws that would bolster workers’ rights to work from home, but the Australian Services Union, which represents clerical workers, is pushing for rules that would force employers to give employees six months’ notice before mandating a return to the office.