A new university survey shows most Australians are increasingly unhappy with the balance between work and life.

The fourth Australian Work and Life Index reveals the number of full-time workers who are dissatisfied with their situation has increased in the past three years.

More than one-fifth of Australians spend 48 hours or more at work each week, and 60 per cent do not take regular holidays.

Three-quarters of people working long hours say they would rather work fewer hours despite the drop in pay.

Professor Barbara Pocock from the University of South Australia's Centre for Work and Life says it is having a huge impact on health.

"They are more likely to have cardiovascular illness and depression," she said.

"Long hours are a problem, it's not an increasing problem but it's a very persistent problem especially for men.

"But there's also some interesting new research which tells us that productivity is lower for people who do long hours of work, and absenteeism is higher."

Professor Pocock says employer flexibility is a must.

"I think we should be talking more about how to curb long hours of work in workplaces where they are negative for productivity and worker well-being," she said.

"But also I think the cultures of workplaces, improved supervision and more support for workers to get flexibility makes a very big difference."