Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) one in three Australian women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15; and

  (b) two thirds of women who experience violence are in paid employment;

(2) recognises that:

(a) family violence isolates and excludes its victims and disconnects people from community, work, education, friends and family;

(b) the trauma experienced by an employee facing family violence will be lessened if they have the support of an understanding and accommodating employer that offers domestic and family violence leave; and

  (c) access to a leave specifically allocated for situations of domestic and family violence protects employees from discrimination and allows them to maintain stable employment which increases their likelihood of leaving violent relationships;

(3) commends the many private companies that already provide domestic and family violence leave, including Telstra, Virgin, Qantas and the National Australia Bank, to more than one million Australian workers;

(4) condemns the Government for its public service bargaining policy which has resulted in the removal of domestic and family violence leave provisions in some public service enterprise agreements; and

(5) calls on the Government to amend the National Employment Standards to include domestic and family violence leave as a universal workplace right.

It's with great concern that I rise in this House today to shine a light on not just the extent and prevalence of domestic and family violence in Australia but the need, the urgent need now, to address the issue of domestic violence leave. Despite its increasing prominence in much of our national debate, the rates of domestic and family violence in Australia continue to be horrifying. One in four women experiences intimate partnership violence; women are five times more likely than men to require medical attention or hospitalisation as a result of intimate partner violence; and one woman is killed by a partner or an ex every single week in Australia. As a country we must find ways to end this scourge.

Given that more than one-half of domestic violence victims, most of them women, are in full-time work, workplace reform is critical. So domestic and family violence is absolutely a workplace issue. The most urgent priority is for the federal government to enshrine domestic violence leave in the National Employment Standards. Domestic violence leave crushes stigma and protects employees from discrimination. It brings the issue out from behind closed doors, and it sends a clear message to employees that they have understanding and support in their workplace. And it gives women the time and space they need to rebuild their lives while maintaining their financial independence, one of the key predictors of successfully leaving a violent relationship.

Leaving a violent relationship is traumatic, and we know it is also extremely dangerous. But it's equally demanding, exhausting and time consuming. There are doctors' appointments; trips to the police station; meetings with lawyers, counsellors, financial advisers and others—not to mention house inspections, applications, calls to real estate agents to find a new home. Of course, women with children often have to find new schools and make sure that the mental and physical needs of their children are always being looked after.

In recent years, we've seen some real momentum gathering for workplace change. More than half of Australia's major private sector employers have introduced domestic violence leave, and one-third have a formal policy. Companies including Telstra, NAB, Virgin Australia, IKEA and Blundstone have led the way, and 1.6 million Australians now have access to this important workplace provision—but many millions do not.

I'm very pleased that federal Labor has pledged that 10 days paid domestic violence leave would be enshrined in the National Employment Standards under a Shorten Labor government, but it saddens me that the federal government hasn't made the same commitment. Not only has the Turnbull government not made that commitment; it has actually rejected the proposal of domestic violence leave. It has actively removed it from public sector enterprise bargaining agreements. I do believe that many government members are genuinely committed to addressing the scourge of domestic violence, but this isn't being borne out in any government policy. If we as a country are serious about addressing domestic and family violence, then our National Employment Standards must include domestic and family violence leave as a universal workplace right.

Government ministers have consistently argued against domestic violence leave, and the arguments they have used to support their inaction have, frankly, been baseless. The former Minister for Employment and—regretfully, for many of us—Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, argued that domestic violence leave would be a 'perverse disincentive' for employers to take on female workers. Using that argument, you might as well say the same thing for carers leave or maternity leave, both provisions that are disproportionately needed and accessed by women. This is an argument that's been demolished by not just members on this side of the House but indeed the Centre for Future Work, which has really put paid to that argument.

I'd like to pay tribute to that fearless domestic violence campaigner, Rosie Batty, for her work here. Mr Turnbull, it's time for the government to match Labor's commitment and amend the National Employment Standards. (Time expired)

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