Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased today to rise to move this important motion, which recognises that two-thirds of Australian women who have experienced domestic violence with their current partner are currently in paid employment.

There are many definitions of domestic violence, but commonly included is persistent intimidation, control and physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse, most commonly perpetrated by male intimate partners against women. It is estimated that without appropriate action to address domestic violence against women and their children, three-quarters of a million Australian women will experience and report violence in the period to 2021-22, costing the Australian economy an estimated $15.6 billion.

The prevalence of domestic violence is concerning. Certainly, I am very pleased that the federal Labor government is taking action to address this issue through the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. It is important that we also recognise the specific impact of domestic violence on Australian women as workers. Data collected by the National Domestic Violence and Workplace Survey published in 2011 confirms that the impact of domestic violence is a significant issue in Australian workplaces.

I have to make the comment at this point that I had not been fully aware of this until the member for Page brought this to my attention. I would like to commend the member for Page; she does not have the opportunity to speak on this motion tonight, but she actually raised this issue and put me in touch with a number of people who feel very passionately about it. I am very pleased that I have now brought this motion to the House for further consideration.

The motion recognises the significant impact that domestic violence can have on the employment of women who are subject to domestic violence. The findings of the National Domestic Violence and Workplace Survey, as well as a number of other studies conducted around the world, show the negative impact of domestic violence on employment of victims. Research suggests that perpetrators of domestic violence implement job interference tactics both in the workplace and at home which can result in reduced work performance. Some of the behaviours victims have reported as negatively impacting their ability to perform their job effectively include physical restraint so that they are unable to attend work, beatings so severe that they are physically unable or too ashamed to attend work, hiding car keys or destroying clothes to prevent victims from attending work, inflicting sleep deprivation or emotional distress so that the person is too fatigued to function while at work, harassment via the phone or email while the person is trying to work and even stalking the person at work.

I have to say I also experienced this by seeing it at one workplace that I used to represent when I worked in the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. There was a worker in Myer, where I represented the women, who was subject to domestic violence threats at the workplace. Indeed, unfortunately—and it was a very tragic experience—her partner came in and actually shot her while at work. The impact that had was, obviously, that loss of life; but I went to her funeral and I was moved by the impact it had. It was just an awful situation that we cannot underestimate: the impact that it has on, obviously, the person and, indeed, all their co-workers.

If these sorts of insidious behaviours do occur, the victim often finds it difficult to make it to work. There is lost productivity, where the victim can become distracted as a result of the anxiety and fear that domestic violence does cause, and there is absenteeism, where victims may be unable to attend work while recovering from physical and psychological injuries because they are so fearful for the safety of themselves or their co-workers. Indeed, the most horrid outcomes can occur. Many respondents who reported having experienced these kinds of behaviours in the National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey attested to the considerable work performance impact of verbal, physical, emotional and psychological violence in terms of the ability to attend work and the ability to perform well while at work. The risk to personal safety in the workplace and to the safety of co-workers is an important aspect of the impact of domestic violence on women's employment. As I mentioned, Australian homicide data indicates that intimate partners or ex-partners accounted for 55 per cent of homicides of women in Australia in 2007-08. This is a significant issue.

Research suggests that women subject to domestic violence experience high levels of resignation and termination such that they are rarely able to sustain jobs on a long-term basis. They often have disrupted work histories, having had to frequently change jobs either because they are coerced by their partners to resign or because they have unexplained absenteeism and reduced productivity that have led to termination. In addition, women subject to domestic violence are disproportionately represented in lower-paying jobs and part-time employment when compared to women with no experience of domestic violence. The costs to businesses across the country in terms of lost productivity, misuse of resources and staff turnover as a result of domestic violence are calculated to be hundreds of millions of dollars. We also know that employment and financial independence are so important and are part of a key pathway for women to escape violent relationships, yet too often as a result of domestic violence women lose this pathway through termination.

This motion recognises the positive impact of the inclusion of domestic violence leave clauses in contracts of employment to ensure protections for victims including additional paid leave, access to flexible working arrangements where possible and assurances that the employee's details will be treated confidentially and disclosure will not lead to discriminatory treatment. The vast majority of respondents in the National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey believed that workplace entitlements could help to reduce the impact of violence in the workplace.

The most important part of including a clause in a contract of employment is that it would send a very clear message to the women employed in an organisation that if they were suffering from domestic violence the organisation would support them. Based on experience, a lot of women suffering from domestic violence would not choose to take domestic violence leave. They would probably exhaust their annual leave and other leave entitlements before they would move to domestic violence leave. But in a case where it was needed, I think it sends a very strong message that if these clauses are included those women who have experienced domestic violence can have time off in a crisis. For example, they would be able to recover from injuries, attend court when necessary, make statements to the police, reorganise bank accounts and schooling arrangements for dependent children and access counselling.

The motion acknowledges the introduction of domestic violence clauses for public sector employees in Queensland and New South Wales, and congratulates those organisations in the private sector which have moved to incorporate these clauses in contracts of employment. It is important to recognise the incorporation of domestic violence clauses in the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award in New South Wales and the Queensland government's special leave directive. There is also a range of different organisations across the country that have moved to introduce domestic violence leave clauses, including the People's Choice Credit Union in my own state of South Australia which gets a top rating for the particular clause when rated against the key principles endorsed at the Australian Council of Trade Unions congress in 2012.

Research indicates a strong positive arrangement between flexible workplace support and employee outcomes in situations involving domestic violence. The introduction of domestic violence clauses is critical to ensuring that women employees who have experienced domestic violence are appropriately protected and able to continue their employment in the long term. The motion states—and I think this is really important—that we urge private companies and public sectors alike to look at domestic violence leave clauses in their enterprise agreements. The issue might be about cost, but I do think this is an important signal to employees that they are supported and that they are able to bring up issues of domestic violence.

Of the respondents involved in the National Domestic Violence and Workplace Survey, 100 per cent agreed that domestic violence impacts the lives of employees, and we know that seeking work or training outside the home can actually exacerbate domestic violence. Some of the unacceptable behaviours I have discussed have significant consequences for the ability of women employees to meet their work requirements and roles and I do think it is important that we continue to raise this awareness. We have often talked about domestic violence; I commend the motion to the House.

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