The standard desk height in Australia is approximately 720mm from the floor to the top of the desk surface, and most fixed commercial desks are manufactured between 700mm and 730mm. That figure comes from Australian ergonomic guidance (AS/NZS 4442 covers office desk dimensions) and it is designed around the seated elbow height of an average-sized adult.
Here is the part that matters if you are buying desks for a team: 720mm suits people roughly 168-180cm tall sitting in a properly adjusted chair. Fall outside that band and a fixed-height desk is wrong for you out of the box.
We supply desks and workstations across Melbourne and Geelong, and desk height comes up in two situations: businesses buying furniture for a fitout, and businesses trying to work out why staff are complaining about wrists, shoulders and necks. This covers both.
Where 720mm comes from
The ergonomic target is simple: when you sit with your feet flat and your shoulders relaxed, your forearms should be roughly horizontal when your hands are on the keyboard. Elbows at about 90 degrees, wrists straight.
For an average Australian adult in a task chair, that puts the ideal work surface around 680-740mm — so manufacturers standardised near the middle at 720mm. It is a sensible compromise for a population. It is not a guarantee for an individual.
The quiet problem with fixed-height desks
A fixed 720mm desk fails people in both directions:
- Shorter staff end up with the desk effectively too high — shoulders hitched, wrists cocked upward, feet not flat on the floor once the chair is raised to compensate.
- Taller staff end up hunched over a surface that is too low, with the neck doing the bending a desk should have prevented.
The standard workaround is to fit the person to the desk: raise the chair, add a footrest for shorter staff, and raise monitors for taller staff. This works to a point, and a good adjustable chair covers a lot of sins. But you are correcting a mismatch, not removing it — and across a team of mixed heights, one desk height cannot be right for everyone.
That mismatch is rarely reported as "my desk is the wrong height." It shows up sideways: wrist soreness, shoulder tension, staff perched on the front of chairs, someone quietly stacking the monitor on reams of paper. If you are fielding those complaints, check desk height and chair setup before assuming you need new chairs.
Quick self-check for any workstation
- Sit all the way back in the chair, feet flat, and relax your shoulders.
- Place your hands on the keyboard. Forearms should be close to horizontal.
- If your elbows sit clearly below the desk surface, the desk is too high for you (or the chair too low).
- If you are stooping to reach the surface, the desk is too low.
- Fix chair height first, add a footrest if your feet leave the floor, and only then judge the desk itself.
When to stop compromising and buy adjustable
Sit-stand desks resolve the height problem completely, because the surface moves to the person — most electric models run from roughly 620mm to 1280mm, covering seated work for almost any adult and standing work on top of it.
For a business, the practical buying logic looks like this:
- Fixed 720mm desks remain a perfectly good, cost-effective choice for hot-desking areas, meeting rooms and teams whose members fall in the average height band with decent adjustable chairs.
- Sit-stand desks earn their premium for permanent workstations, staff at either end of the height range, anyone returning from injury, and roles with long continuous screen time.
- A mixed floor plan — fixed desks where turnover is high, adjustable where people sit all day — is what most of our Melbourne fitout clients land on. It puts the spend where it changes outcomes.
One warning from the supply side: desk height is only half the equation. A $1,500 sit-stand desk paired with a worn-out chair still produces sore staff. Chair and desk are a system — if the budget forces a choice, a quality ergonomic chair at a standard-height desk usually beats a premium desk with a failing chair.
Standard dimensions worth knowing
While you are checking height, the other numbers that matter when buying desks in Australia:
- Height: ~720mm fixed; 620-1280mm typical electric sit-stand range
- Depth: 700-800mm is standard; less than 600mm makes correct monitor distance difficult
- Width per person: 1200mm minimum, 1500-1800mm comfortable for dual monitors
- Under-desk clearance: at least 580mm deep and free of cable trays at knee height
Cheap desks most often cut the depth and the clearance — which is why they feel cramped even at the correct height.
Getting it right for a whole team
Buying desks one spec sheet at a time is how offices end up with the complaints described above. The better sequence: look at who actually sits where, identify the full-day workstations, put adjustable desks and good chairs there, and use standard-height desks where occupancy is genuinely part-time.
We help Melbourne and Geelong businesses spec exactly this — new desks, workstations and sit-stand options, ergonomic task chairs to pair with them, and honest advice on where the standard 720mm desk is all you need. If you are planning a broader refresh, desk and workstation planning also folds into our office fitout service.
Ask us about desks and workstations for your office
FAQ
What is the standard desk height in Australia? Approximately 720mm from floor to desktop. Most fixed commercial desks are manufactured between 700mm and 730mm, consistent with Australian ergonomic guidance for office desks.
What height should my desk be for my height? Seated with relaxed shoulders, your forearms should be horizontal at the keyboard. As a rough guide, people under about 168cm need a surface below 720mm or a footrest; people over about 180cm need it higher, a raised monitor, or an adjustable desk.
Are sit-stand desks worth it for an office? For permanent, full-day workstations and staff outside the average height band, usually yes — they remove the height compromise entirely. For hot desks and part-time seats, a standard 720mm desk with a good adjustable chair is normally sufficient.
What desk height is required by law in Australia? No law mandates a specific desk height. WHS obligations require workstations to be safe and fit for the worker, which is why ergonomic guidance (AS/NZS 4442) and adjustability matter more than any single number.
Is a 750mm desk too high? For most people, slightly — it suits taller users. Shorter staff at a 750mm desk will need the chair raised and a footrest, or wrist and shoulder strain tends to follow.
