Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party, Minister for Jobs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members for their contribution in this very important debate on this very important bill. The Fair Work Amendment (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2018 will enshrine five days unpaid leave in the National Employment Standards. It will for the first time extend a guaranteed entitlement to up to six million workers who do not currently have access to such leave. This is an historic and important step that is supported by the government's broader agenda to strengthen women's personal safety and economic security. The government is pleased to be delivering on its commitment as soon as possible to ensure that employees covered by the Fair Work Act will have access to a new safety net entitlement of five days unpaid leave to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence.

I introduced the bill in the spring sitting, the first sitting period after the Fair Work Commission finalised the model award term in July 2018. I thank the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee for its inquiry into this bill and those individuals and organisations that provided submissions and attended the public hearings to assist the committee in its deliberations. I'm pleased that the committee recommended that the bill be passed. The question of what workplace leave should be available to victims of family and domestic violence was considered in extensive detail by the Fair Work Commission. The consideration included whether leave should be paid or unpaid, how much leave was appropriate, who should have access to leave and the circumstances in which leave should be available.

Between October of 2014 and July 2018 the Fair Work Commission considered 68 written submissions from 27 parties, received over 2,000 pages of documentation, heard evidence from 26 witnesses and held over 11 days of hearings. Submissions were made and interested parties were given an opportunity to provide input at every stage and step in the process. Unions, employers and community groups all actively engaged in the Fair Work Commission's process. The government respects the integrity of the fair and balanced process the Fair Work Commission undertook in making its decision. The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee in its report into this bill acknowledged the extensive consideration of the issue by the Fair Work Commission and noted that it did not receive evidence which would challenge the basis of the Fair Work Commission's decision.

In relation to paid leave the commission explicitly stated in its decision:

… we are not satisfied, at this time, that it is necessary to provide ten days paid family and domestic violence leave to all employees covered by modern awards.

…   …   …

The ACTU has not provided a satisfactory explanation as to how it arrived at ten days and the evidence does not support a finding that ten days paid leave is necessary.

The Fair Work Commission decided that five days unpaid leave represents a fair and relevant minimum safety net entitlement. This of course does not mean that employers cannot offer something above that minimum safety net, but this is the minimum that will apply to all.

The bill will extend the decision of the Fair Work Commission to all employees covered by the Fair Work Act. It is the right step to take right now. The commission's decision applied to award-reliant employees. This bill will provide a universal safety net entitlement for all workers under the Fair Work Act, regardless of the basis of their employment or the size of their employer. Many workers covered by the Fair Work Act currently have no entitlement to family and domestic violence leave, as they are not award reliant. This new safety net entitlement will not prevent employers from providing other support to employees experiencing family and domestic violence. However, we must recognise that employers need to make business decisions that reflect their own situation. Enterprise agreements and workplace policies are the appropriate place for more generous entitlements to be provided where individual employers are able to do so.

As the Australian Industry Group submitted to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee's inquiry into the bill:

Employers have different capacities to provide support to employees who are experiencing family and domestic violence. … Smaller employers often do not have written policies but they typically adopt a reasonable and compassionate approach when their employees suffer genuine hardships. The Bill implements an appropriate safety-net entitlement.

I know some members have spoken about the need for people to experience family and domestic violence to be able to maintain their employment and not feel that they have no choice but to resign. By providing for family and domestic violence leave as a workplace right in the National Employment Standards, all workers covered by the Fair Work Act will be protected from adverse action for taking family and domestic violence leave. This includes actions such as dismissing someone or reducing their shifts. Under the government's bill, people who need to take leave to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence will be able to do so safe in the knowledge that their job is protected.

We know that, sadly, victims of family and domestic violence are overwhelmingly women. This year, already, too many women have been killed violently at the hands of men, and one death is just too many. Addressing violence against women remains a key priority for our government, and we are taking comprehensive action. Our government has invested over $300 million to improve women's safety since 2015. In the 2018-19 budget, we announced $54.4 million in new funding for online safety initiatives and critical domestic violence services to ensure that women can be safe at home, online and at work. This included funding for DV-alert, a program to build capacity in frontline workers for whom managing family violence is not a core function of their role. It also included funding for 1800RESPECT, the flagship national service for domestic, family violence and sexual assault counselling, information and support. 1800RESPECT has proved to be a vital support for so many. I'm pleased that, in addition to this budget funding, on 27 November this year the government announced that 1800RESPECT will receive $10.9 million in additional funding to meet ongoing demand.

The government has also previously committed $100 million to the Third Action Plan, a further step in the 12-year national plan to achieve a significant and sustained reduction of violence against women and children. One project under the Third Action Plan I would like to draw attention to is the development of a one-stop shop for online resources. The resources will provide holistic, best-practice guidance for employers and employees to help support victims of family and domestic violence.

I also want to welcome the positive response to the latest ads, which were part of the award-winning Stop it at the Start campaign. In partnership with states and territories, we have committed $30 million to target the influencers of young people—such as parents, friends, teachers and coaches—to help bring about generational change in attitudes around violence against women.

I was pleased to co-host the COAG National Summit on Reducing Violence Against Women and their Children on 2 and 3 October 2018 in Adelaide. I look forward to continuing to work with states, territories and the Australian community as we develop the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. The government is also proud to be contributing $500,000 towards the Australian Human Rights Commission's inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace, which is to be led by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.

This government understands that we can help women to build their financial security through practical measures. It is one of the key reasons why I delivered the first ever women's economic security statement, which focused on three key pillars: workforce participation, earning potential and, importantly, economic independence. These important measures support women's financial security to help them to be able to escape violent relationships. Our government's record on women's economic security is strong. Under our government, there are more women in work than ever before, with over 5.9 million women in work. Women's workforce participation is at record highs. We are on target to meet the G20 commitment to reduce the gap in women's workforce participation by 25 per cent to 9.1 percentage points by 2025. In October 2018 the participation gap was standing at 9.5 percentage points. Under our government we are also making good progress on closing the gender pay gap.

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