Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise today to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022, and am incredibly pleased to be supporting this bill.

This bill will deliver on our election commitment to provide employees with access to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per 12-month period under the Fair Work Act. If the bill does proceed, this will start from 1 February 2023 and provide this provision to so many people that may need it. From 1 August 2023 there is a provision to allow for a longer period of time for small business to put their processes in place, but from August 2023 all employees—regardless of whether they are employed in a small, medium or large business, regardless of whether they are employed on a full-time, part-time or casual basis—will be able to access paid family and domestic violence leave. This will mean more than 11 million Australians will be eligible for this entitlement.

I am at pains to say that I hope not that many people will have to take up this leave. These are extraordinary circumstances where someone will need to take paid family and domestic violence leave to help them, whether it is to escape, relocate, obtain counselling—a range of issues that come as a result of family and domestic violence. This is an important entitlement, and while we hope that the take-up of this is low it is important that Australians can access it. Whether they need to escape or deal with violent home lives, family and domestic violence, this is an important safety net.

The new leave entitlement applies to casuals, but they will be only entitled to a paid entitlement for shifts that they are rostered. All casuals will have upfront access to up to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period when the new entitlement comes into effect. It was disappointing to hear those on the opposite side talk about this as if it was a problem, because, as I said, these are not usual circumstances. These should be extraordinary circumstances in which we are providing support for those most vulnerable.

Payment will be at an employee's full rate of pay, worked out as if the employee had worked the hours in a period in which the employee was rostered. This means casuals, when they take leave for the period they were rostered for, will have a national employment standard of leave entitlement and will receive payment for the shift they would have worked at the rate that would have been paid, including applicable loadings. This is to make sure that casual workers are included in this scheme, because domestic and family violence doesn't discriminate in who it affects. Whether they are casual workers, part-time workers or full-time workers, women escaping family and domestic violence should not find themselves having to choose between paid employment and escaping domestic and family violence.

According to the results of the 2016 ABS Personal Safety Survey, women are more likely to take time off work after experiencing violence by their current or previous partner. The various impacts on victims-survivors arising from family and domestic violence mean that victims-survivors may quickly exhaust their leave entitlements, such as annual leave and personal leave. This is especially pronounced for casual employees, who may already experience insecure work and typically don't have other leave entitlements to draw upon.

This bill provides universal access to paid leave, greater accessibility and, importantly, more financial security. The community has been calling for this important entitlement for years. The Business Council of Australia support this work, as do women's legal services and other family and domestic violence support services. Of course, the Australian Council of Trade Unions have been campaigning for this for over a decade.

Not too long ago, it was commonplace to accept community assumptions that domestic violence was something that should be dealt with in the privacy of people's homes—that it was an issue to be kept in the shadows and not spoken about openly. But we know this isn't true. We now need to look past the home and into the workplace. Workplaces play an important role in not only supporting and protecting people experiencing violence—mostly women—but also enabling them to leave violent relationships.

I will never forget the moment when the intersection between workplaces and domestic violence hit home for me. It was 11.15 am on Wednesday 17 November 2004 when 61-year-old Carole Schaer was shot dead as she worked in the handbag and shoe section of the Myer department store in Adelaide's Rundle Mall. I was then an organiser for the SDA and was acutely involved in the response to that horrific incident. I vividly remember Carole's funeral and the impact not just on her family but on her friends, her colleagues and her employers as well. Carole's tragic death brought home to me that we cannot separate the workplace and the home. Domestic violence and family violence ripple throughout our community and ripple across our society, including in our workplaces.

Workplaces, employers and unions have a very important role in ending the unacceptable rates of violence against mostly women and children. Approximately 68 per cent of victims-survivors experiencing family and domestic violence are in paid work, and maintaining employment, financial independence and social connections can be key factors in ensuring that they have the courage to leave a violent situation.

In Australia, one in six women and one in 16 men have experienced gendered violence by a current or former partner since the age of 15. On average, one woman dies every 10 days in Australia at the hands of their former or current partner. This is absolutely unacceptable. They're not just statistics; they're employees, they're colleagues, they're bosses and they're mentors. These experiences of violence can result in victims-survivors requiring time away from work for a variety of reasons, such as injury, seeking safe accommodation, attending police or court services, attending counselling or medical appointments or caring for children.

These are not circumstances that are ordinary. They're not circumstances that can be dealt with in the normal way that workplaces deal with things like carer's leave or sick leave. These are extraordinary circumstances, and we need to treat them that way. No-one should have to choose between a job and managing the impact of an abusive relationship. This entitlement will provide important additional practical support within a broader suite of options available to help victims-survivors heal as well as to promote their economic security.

As Minister for Social Services, I am responsible for the government's broader response to domestic and family violence. I have worked very quickly in our time in government to work towards ensuring that the Escaping Violence Payment is fit for purpose and that 1800RESPECT and other important measures, including keeping women safe in their homes and the DV-alert training for workplace employers, are meeting the need. This entitlement will join a suite of valuable tools to fight to end violence against women and children. It further clearly demonstrates that our government stands with victim-survivors who experience family and domestic violence and is providing Australia with the national leadership that is needed to end family, domestic and sexual violence.

This bill also amends the definition of family and domestic violence in the Fair Work Act to cover family and domestic violence perpetrated by a member of an employee's household. The new definition covers violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by a member of an employee's household or close relative, including sexual violence. Close relatives includes immediate family members and relationships according to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship rules. An extension of this definition of family and domestic violence includes conduct of a member of an employee's household, to recognise that Australians are living in more diverse and different arrangements.

This bill also aligns with the objectives of the Draft National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. It has been a priority of mine to finalise this plan and to make sure that there is a response to this horrific incidence of this violence in Australia and that it does support the response and recovery of the healing process.

This government is committed to making sure that we are investing in women's safety as well as delivering on our election commitment to generate 500 new frontline and community workers to support women and children experiencing domestic violence; $100 million for crisis and transitional housing to assist women fleeing violence; and, of course, establishing the new Family, Domestic and SexualViolence Commission to act as an advocate for victim-survivors. The benefits of offering paid family and domestic violence leave far outweigh the associated cost to business and community, and there are many businesses that already recognise this and offer paid family and domestic violence leave.

I am proud to be part of a government that is working to end violence against women and children. However, all parts of Australian society, including the government, community and workplaces, all have a role to play in addressing this. Let's work together to aim to ensure that the next generation of men and women don't have to deal with the tragedies we are seeing now.

Debate adjourned.

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