The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has welcomed the release of Tourism Australia's new No Leave, No Life magazine, which features 87 Australian tourism operators and encourages Australians to trade in their accrued leave for an Australian holiday.
One in four Australian workers has accumulated more than five weeks of annual leave, which totals 123 million days and $33 billion in wages.
Launched at the end of March, Tourism Australia's No Leave, No Life program aims to both help Australian employers change attitudes to leave-taking within their workplaces and encourage workers to take a break and improve their work-life balance.
Research conducted in the lead up to the spring school holidays shows one in four full-time working Australians are aware of the No Leave, No Life campaign activity and that these people are significantly more likely to have researched an Australian holiday, booked their flights or accommodation and/or submitted a request for annual leave.
The 56-page magazine features holiday offers from around Australia and 750,000 copies are this week being distributed through major newspapers.
Minister Ferguson said: "Encouraging Australians to take a holiday and explore their own backyard will bring major benefits to local tourism operators and the half a million Australians they employ."
The No Leave, No Life program has attracted significant support from the business community. More than 500 Australian businesses - with more than 670,000 employees - have so far registered.
The No Leave, No Life program has been developed as a solution to a workplace issue that has developed over many years.
Minister Ferguson said: "Australia's culture of leave-stockpiling is an entrenched workplace issue that is not going to diminish in the short-term. However I am very pleased to see Tourism Australia working with Australian employers and the Australian tourism industry to drive change and support domestic tourism."