Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. The Greens have been calling for paid family and domestic violence leave for years. We know that it helps victims-survivors, who are predominantly women, to escape abusive relationships, protect themselves and their children and rebuild their lives. Access to this leave could quite literally save their lives. Without a paid leave entitlement, taking the time needed to escape could cost a victim-survivor their job. Without a job, they can't afford to escape or recover. No-one should have to choose between their safety and their job.

The current scheme of five days unpaid domestic and family violence leave was a welcome recognition that family and domestic violence affects someone in most workplaces, but unpaid leave was never adequate. It put women at financial risk and, worse, a drop in income could be a red flag to their abuser and put them at further risk of violence. Paid domestic and family violence leave is the best way to support employees to manage the impact of their abuse, to end the violence, to keep their kids safe, to recover and to keep them employed. We commend the government for extending paid leave entitlements to casuals and making it available in full for all employees, so they can process and access paid leave when they need it, or when the opportunity to escape arises.

I flag that we will be moving some minor amendments to ensure that the bill covers the full scope of activities that a victim-survivor needs to undertake to be safe and secure, and we will also be moving some other technical and relatively minor amendments. I understand that the government may not be of a mind to support these amendments, but we urge them to do so and to consider these proposals in any future review of the bill.

In relation to evidentiary requirements, as the minister outlined, the bill doesn't change the existing provisions of the Fair Work Act about evidence, including not changing the confidentiality of any information provided by employees. The burden of producing sensitive evidence of violence to your boss or to HR can be a deterrent to employees and can allow employers to make it difficult to access leave. The simple and horrifying fact is that most workplaces have at least one employee who is experiencing family and domestic violence. There is a lot of work to be done at both a societal and a workplace level to destigmatise disclosing abuse and to strengthen the supports that are available.

Employees must have confidence that their employer will support them if they disclose and will respect and protect their privacy. Without these assurances, employees will be reluctant to access leave that could save their lives. Given the stigma that is still attached to disclosure, a supportive workplace culture should start from a position of believing an employee who has taken the brave step of asking for family and domestic violence leave. If evidence is requested, employers should be flexible about what evidence they will accept and have a clear process to protect the privacy of their employee.

The Australian Greens do recognise the cost implications of introducing a paid leave scheme and that this can have a significant impact for a small business. But the reality is that small business is already managing the impact of family and domestic violence on staff: those experiencing violence, those covering their shifts as they take the leave needed to escape and recover and staff who leave the business because it doesn't offer them the necessary support. The experience of employers who are currently voluntarily offering paid leave has been that the financial impacts are minimal but the positive benefits, in terms of staff morale and retention, are significant. The Greens support the government providing resources, training and support to small business to assist them to implement paid family and domestic violence leave provisions, and for that to be reflected in the upcoming budget. The impacts on small business could and should be considered as part of the review of the operation of this bill so we can identify any ways to break down barriers to accessing leave.

I want to make an additional point: leaving an abusive relationship takes time. It often takes many attempts; it takes many hours and there are estimates that it takes around $18,000 to escape. Family and criminal law proceedings can be lengthy, and staying safe and recovering from trauma is a very long project. Ten days paid leave will not always be enough. Best practice is to provide unlimited leave, or at least 14 days, and I note that the New South Wales public sector is now offering 20 days of paid leave. I'll be moving an amendment to provide four additional unpaid days of family and domestic violence leave in addition to the 10 paid leave days for those who need that extra time to keep themselves and their children safe. Again, I flag that I don't imagine there will be support for that amendment, but it's an important issue that should be discussed both here and in any subsequent review of this bill.

Now, we heard concerns that employees who disclose family and domestic violence at work could be discriminated against by losing their job or losing hours of work. This must be addressed. I will also be moving an amendment to the bill to protect employees who disclose family and domestic violence or who seek leave from unfair dismissal because of that disclosure.

Finally, the paid family and domestic violence leave scheme will only succeed if the services that are needed to support victims-survivors and employers working with the scheme have the funding to meet demand. Paid family and domestic violence leave will provide time to seek help, but many of the services that women are seeking help from already have to turn people away because they simply don't have the staff to take on additional cases because they don't have the funding for the staff or the funding for the beds.

Employers need to know that they can refer employees who've disclosed family and domestic violence to services that will pick up the phone, that have a bed available if they need it. So I foreshadow that I will be moving a second reading amendment that acknowledges this, and that—again, for the umpteenth time in this place—calls on the government to provide adequate funding to frontline services in the budget so that everyone who reaches out for help can receive help. We know that means $1 billion a year to frontline response and prevention services.

We also need to lift income support payments so women without work have the financial security to leave abusive relationships, and we desperately need to address the housing crisis so women fleeing abuse can find somewhere to live. This bill is a huge step in the right direction, and it's the culmination of many years of advocacy by unions and by women's organisations. The Greens have long supported paid family and domestic violence leave, and we are delighted to support this bill. We hope that our amendments to further strengthen the scheme succeed. If they don't succeed today then we'll be supporting a review of this bill to look at additional ways to ensure that employees are given the lifeline they need to escape violence and to start to rebuild their lives.