Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In February this year, I met with representatives from the Australian Services Union. Some of their members had come to ask me to sign their We Won't Wait pledge. The objective of the We Won't Wait campaign is to get 10 days of paid family violence leave under the National Employment Standards, the NES, so that all Australian workers have access to this important support.

The contents of the pledge are as follows: 'I recognise the critical need for all sectors of society to work to prevent and respond to family violence. Workplaces are not immune to family violence, and workers attempting to survive the impacts of family violence need time to relocate and address legal issues, the welfare of their families and their own wellbeing. Maintaining employment through the process is critical to securing their family's long-term safety. For these reasons, I support the We Won't Wait campaign to make family violence leave available to all Australian workers.' I was proud to put my name to this pledge, and I'm proud that Labor is leading the way on this very important issue, having announced in December 2017 that an elected Labor government would legislate for 10 days paid family violence leave in the National Employment Standards.

Domestic and family violence is a scourge on our community without regard to income or social status. A recent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that:

One in 6 Australian women and 1 in 16 men have been subjected, since the age of 15, to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner …

The same report indicated that:

Family, domestic and sexual violence happens repeatedly—more than half (54%) of the women who had experienced current partner violence, experienced more than one violent incident …

White Ribbon Australia has some scarily similar statistics, again, emphasising the scope and urgency of the problem: that one in four children in Australia are exposed to domestic violence, that domestic and family violence is the principal cause of homelessness for women and/or their children, that violence against women is estimated to cost the Australian economy $21.7 billion each year, and that oft quoted figure—that is, over 12 months, on average, one woman is killed every week in Australia by a current or former partner. This is a shame. It's a national tragedy.

A person who is trying to remove themselves and their family from domestic violence should not be further burdened by the rational fear that, in making the request to have time off to deal with that situation, that could result in the loss of their job, nor should they see resignation from employment as the only way forward to get the time that they need. I'm pleased that the government has acknowledged the impact that family and domestic violence have on employers and employees in the workplace. We see this response to this issue in this legislation—that is, the Fair Work Amendment (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2018.

This bill proposes to amend the NES to provide all employees with an entitlement to five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave. This is in line with a recent decision from the Fair Work Commission to include a clause for five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave in all modern awards. The model clause from the FWC notes that often it is impractical to do the things that you need to do when dealing with the impacts of family violence outside of ordinary working hours. This is, of course, self-evident, practical and sensible for things like finding accommodation, securing an appropriate apprehended violence order from the police, seeking legal advice, getting medical treatment, seeing a counsellor or perhaps attending court hearings. All of these issues take time and, of course, they do not fit in with an out-of-hours schedule to suit a person's working arrangements. I say again: these are not things that can wait until a weekend, until the end of a shift or the end of a work day. For this reason, domestic and family violence leave should be a universal workplace right, not something that relies upon the goodwill of an employer; although I do know that there are many who would act with the sort of empathy necessary to help someone through this sort of crisis. For this reason, Labor will not be opposing this bill.

This bill is certainly a step in the right direction. However, we on this side of the House do not believe that it goes far enough. Labor's commitment, as I said earlier, is for 10 days paid family violence leave—paid. It is absolutely essential that domestic and family violence leave is paid leave available to every Australian worker. I'm concerned that with this legislation the government is saying that only the women who can afford to take unpaid leave are entitled to take the time required to remove themselves from a domestic violence situation, remove themselves to protect their families, remove themselves to seek support, to seek safety.

It is a fact that women are more likely to be in insecure work, or working casually or part time whilst also taking on the caring responsibility for their family. Often this means that taking unpaid leave will put them at even more financial disadvantage. If a woman is in the situation of needing to take family and domestic violence leave, it's likely that she is also counting on continuing to receive a pay cheque and being able to go back to work while she takes on the task of dealing with the impacts of family violence. A March 2018 article in The Conversation by post-doctoral research fellow Kate Farhall noted there has been research into the costs leaving an abusive relationship. These costs can be many, they can be immediate, and the costs can be long term. The costs will include relocation, including lease-break costs, costs to—

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