Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is my first opportunity to speak in this Chamber, and we have an important piece of legislation that we're debating—the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. Family and domestic violence remains a serious and growing problem in Australia. The member for Fisher described it as a great shame on our national situation, and I completely agree with that. The words I've written down here are that it is a great scourge affecting every community across Australia. I think that's a very important point that some of the previous speakers have made: that it's not just the vulnerable communities in Australia. It's not just the remote communities in Australia. This is a scourge that is affecting every community in Australia, and I know every representative here in the House of Representatives will have stories of people in domestic violence situations who have come through their electorate office doors and sought support.

For Australian women over the age of 15, approximately one in four experience violence by an intimate partner. That is quite a stunning statistic. Of course, there are many male victims of domestic violence as well, but the thought of one in four women in this country experiencing that is quite a remarkable and sobering statistic. In my own electorate of Bowman, we had our own harrowing story of domestic violence hit the headlines in the last couple of weeks. I won't go into the details of the matter because it will be before the courts, but, needless to say, it brought home the horror of DV and underlined the point that it exists in all corners of Australian society. This incident occurred in a very quiet suburban cul-de-sac. It's a street I've doorknocked before, during the election campaign. It is a lovely, peaceful, bayside street, and it's stunning to think that behind this idyllic scene was a nightmare just behind the door.

On average, one woman is killed by a current or former partner every 10 days in Australia—another sobering statistic. Just down the road from my electorate office in Middle Street, Cleveland, the local Red Rose Foundation and Zonta Club run a vigil every time one of these incidents occurs. It's an important reminder to our community. It's just a quiet, silent vigil. They hold it out the front of our public library, and motorists and pedestrians going past get a gentle reminder that yet another victim of domestic violence has passed away here in Australia.

Sixty-eight per cent of victims of family or domestic violence are in paid work. We know that financial security is a significant barrier to victims leaving violent relationships. This is what the experts tell us.

Many great organisations in my electorate are working to support victims of domestic violence. I want to name just a few of them and maybe touch on some of the lessons that they've imparted to me on this important issue. The Redland Community Centre offers free crisis counselling with professional, qualified and experienced counsellors and also offers self-help workshops. They organise referrals to other relevant support organisations and undertake crisis management on behalf of clients. They have emergency workers on hand who present themselves at the centre when someone is experiencing domestic violence.

Another one I'd like to mention is the Centre for Women & Co., who have done a terrific job in my community dealing with the scourge of DV. They offer trained and experienced DFV specialists providing crisis assessment over the phone or face to face. In particular, they provide advice on information, safety planning and support, which is such a critical aspect of assisting victims to plan their next steps, and that's what this bill goes to. They provide a referral to safe accommodation, of which they've got some within my electorate.

The conversations that I have had with the people working on the front line in the DFV space in my community underline the need for holistic support, and critical to this is financial security. For someone to pull away from a violent relationship, they need financial security and a well-executed plan as to how they're going to get out of the situation and get themselves into a safer circumstance. One of the previous speakers made the point—and I echo it from my conversations with people working in this space—that economic security is the No. 1 obstacle. The stories they tell me are very harrowing. I'm sure we've all experienced similar stories within our own electorates. It's certainly my experience, and I've been told by the people on the front line, that economic security is that critical, key step. Their lived experience is that, without that economic security, victims go back into these relationships, and the situations escalate even further, to the point we saw recently in my electorate, as I mentioned before.

In 2018 Australia joined only a handful of jurisdictions around the world when the then coalition government legislated to provide family domestic violence leave. The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2018 currently provides five days of annual FDV leave as part of the National Employment Standards. This leave is available to all employees, including part-time and casual employees, from the day they commence with their employer. The entitlement renews annually, but the unclaimed leave does not carry over to the next year. Contrary to the member for Moreton's contribution earlier, in which the picture was painted that people on the coalition side had not taken any action on this, I point to the fact that Australia was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to undertake that legislative change.

Since then, the Fair Work Commission have commissioned a review of FDV leave entitlements in modern awards. That began in April 2021, and the findings of the FWC review were handed down on 16 May, just five days before the federal election. Firstly, the FWC concluded that full-time employees and, on a pro-rata basis, part-time employees should be entitled to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year. Secondly, it found that the entitlement to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year should accrue progressively across the year in the same way as personal or carers' leave accrues under the National Employment Standards. The FWC concluded that the entitlement should accumulate from year to year, subject to a caveat whereby the total accrual doesn't exceed 10 days at any given time. Thirdly, the FWC recommended that the paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement should be accessible in advance of an entitlement to such leave accruing, by agreement between an employer and an employee. Fourthly, it was recommended that the paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement should operate on the basis that it is paid to the employee's base rate of pay, as defined under section 16 of the Fair Work Act.

That's where we got to with the review of the Fair Work Commission. The bill that the government has brought forward will amend the existing entitlement so that national system employees will be entitled to be paid 10 days FDV leave. The bill also extends the entitlement to casuals and provides that employees are to be paid FDV leave at their full rate of pay rather than just at their base rate of pay. The bill expands the definition of FDV to cover actions by former intimate partners and related household members. The commencement date has been set for 1 February 2023 for employees employed other than by a small business. The entitlement has a delayed six-month commencement for national system employees of small businesses—that would be a start date of 1 August 2023.

Those dates are actually quite close. It may be the fact that we've had a federal election in recent months, but I feel that 2022 is slipping away from us very quickly and that 1 February 2023 will be here in no time. There won't be much time for businesses to adapt to this. I note that there is a six-month extension for smaller businesses, but this is a fairly significant change, and I think we need to reflect on that, particularly in the current economic climate. Small businesses, big businesses, workers and individual households are doing it very tough at the moment. We're facing significant inflation and rising interest rates. There was another rate rise today. It is a very difficult time to be doing business in Australia. Skills, labour and supply shortages are being felt right across the economy. It is a difficult time to do business. It will be a difficult time to do business between now and the commencement date for this bill. We need to reflect on that.

The explanatory memorandum claims that the bill has no financial impact. Of course, that's in reference to the federal government. The intention of the bill is to create an obligation upon employers, rather than the federal government providing any support in terms of direct payment for people claiming this leave. Of course, there is no financial impact for the government on this front, but we have to recognise that this will create some very real cost impositions for business. It is important to note that the former coalition government took a different tact in implementing the original Fair Work Commission decision.

Back in December 2018, the former coalition government passed historic legislation enshrining five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave in the National Employment Standards. These standards set out 11 minimum employment entitlements to ensure consistency of entitlements for employees. The former coalition government reforms matched what the decision of the Fair Work Commission was in relation to award-reliant employees. This new entitlement ensured, as far as possible, consistency in entitlements for employees in the national system and reduced complexity for business. I think that's a critical point. Wherever we can, we should be ensuring that the implementation of these things is very consistent for business. I note that my time is slipping away, so I'm going to race ahead.

Legislating in the National Employment Standards a right to unpaid family and domestic violence leave was an important step and part of the various measures put in place by the former coalition government to support family and domestic violence victims and address this very real issue, which is of great concern to everyone in my community. It is important to note the thoroughness of the recent Fair Work Commission review. This was a proper full review. It took on board input and advocacy from a range of unions and employee representative bodies. Submissions were made and hearings were conducted for every single step of the process. The decision and recommendations were reached independently.

The Labor government's bill goes beyond the model recommended by the independent Fair Work Commission and implements many of the claims made by the ACTU during the hearing of the matter. It's quite concerning that this is going far further than what the Fair Work Commission had recommended. It's critical that we get the balance right. I'll touch on some of the differences. In relation to the accrual of leave, the Fair Work Commission said that the entitlement to 10 days paid FDV leave per year should accrue progressively during a year of service in the same way that personal leave is accrued. The entitlement should accumulate from year to year but subject to a cap whereby the total accrual will not exceed 10 days. This is to ensure someone who starts a new job doesn't instantly have 10 days of liability. It will have the effect of operating as a phasing-in mechanism for the entitlement over the first 12 months. There's the extension to casual employees, which is another point that some of the other speakers have raised, so I'm not going to touch on that. In terms of the rate of pay, it's important to note the distinction. The Fair Work Commission asked for it to be applied to the base rate of pay; this bill seeks to have it applied to the full rate of pay.

There are many groups who've offered their opinions on the legislation and many different business groups who've essentially recommended that we go back to the Fair Work Commission's recommendation, including ACCI, the Ai Group and COSBOA. The cruel impact of family and domestic violence on victims and their dependents is a national tragedy. It is a tragedy that we must fix through education, positive role models, criminal prosecution and social and workplace support. The former coalition government recognised the importance of this problem when, in 2018, it became one of the first governments in the world to act in this regard. What is clear is that both the original legislation and the Fair Work Commission recommendations all show a profound determination to provide effective and sustainable support for victims of FDV. Under the provisions of the bills, the issue needs to be worked through. I think we need to go back to where the— (Time expired)

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