Australia to introduce 10 days of paid domestic violence leave

Meanwhile, reforms expected to be raised at upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit

BY Dexter Tilo 23 Jul 2022

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that they intend to introduce legislation on 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave once Parliament returns.

"When Parliament returns next week, we'll be introducing legislation for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave," said Albanese in a tweet on Friday.

Previously, the Fair Work Commission in May ruled a historic decision that granted 10 days of paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave to millions of workers.

"Such leave helps individuals to maintain their economic security; to access relevant services, and to safely exit to a life free from violence," the FWC previously said.

Following the decision, the Australian Council of Trade Unions pushed for the introduction of the leave to the National Employment Standards (NES), which are the minimum entitlement for employees across Australia.

Back then, Albanese, who was under the opposition amid former Prime Minister Scott Morrison's administration, had already committed on expanding the leave, with his words on Friday cementing his commitment to the leave's introduction to the NES.

His remarks also underscored the words from Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, who also told The Guardian that the government will be introducing a bill legislating the leave.

"When someone is in a family and domestic violence situation, there are always many hurdles to getting out," he told The Guardian in an interview. "I don't want one of those hurdles to be that you'll lose your job, that you'll be poor."

These are among the reforms to be introduced by the Albanese administration in addition to Labour's Secure Australian Jobs Plan, which aims to secure jobs, better pay, and a fairer industrial relations system.

According to Burke, they plan to bring forward the reforms during the Jobs and Skills summit in September, while stressing that the lack of consensus would not stop them from pushing the reform.

"Wherever there is consensus, I'll grab it," Burke told The Guardian in an interview. "But if there's areas where we don't get consensus, I won't use that as an excuse for inaction … I'm certainly willing to act in the absence of consensus."

According to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit will have the following agenda:

Keeping unemployment low, boosting productivity, and raising incomes
Delivering secure, well-paid jobs and strong, sustainable wages growth
Expanding employment opportunities for all Australians including the most disadvantaged
Addressing skills shortages and getting our skills mix right over the long-term
Improving migration settings to support higher productivity and wages
Maximising jobs and opportunities from renewable energy, tackling climate change, the digital economy, the care economy, and a Future Made in Australia
Ensuring women have equal opportunities and equal pay.

Businesses have already expressed willingness to cooperate to address economic challenges at the Jobs and Skills Summit.

"In particular we welcome the government's focus on boosting Australia's lacklustre productivity, the crucial ingredient in sustained wages growth and better jobs," said Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott in a statement. "Achieving this will require cooperation between business, government and workers, and it must start by managing the chronic labour shortages and investment drought that are holding us back."

"Businesses are ready to work with government to ensure Australians have access to the skills they need to get secure work and access to jobs in new and emerging higher paying industries."