Why chucking a sickie is something we should all be proud of

July 16, 2026 — 11:20am

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We have many things to be proud of in Australia. We punch well above our weight in areas like sport, science and the arts, and our natural environment is second to none in the world. But there’s another area where we lead on the global stage, and that’s how we use sick leave.

The ‘Great Australian Sickie’ is a time-honoured tradition that would be familiar to most Australians who work.

The day before said sickie you usually lightly foreshadow if you’re starting to feel a sore throat or headache coming on (either real or imagined). Then you wake up the following morning, roll over and fire off a short text, email or chat message to your manager that you’re not feeling well. That’s all you need to do before you doze back to sleep and attempt to recover on your new day off.

Full-time Australian workers are entitled to 10 sick days a year, or roughly one a month, if........

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