|
senate vote 2022-10-26#3
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2022-10-27 16:07:49
|
Title
Bills — Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022; Second Reading- Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 - Second Reading - Review of Act
Description
<p class="speaker">Jenny McAllister</p><p>To those who perpetrate family and domestic violence: it is the government's view that providing a universal national entitlement to this benefit would not be in line with community expectations. However, this Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 will have a very significant impact. Over one million employees already have access to paid family and domestic violence leave through collective bargaining between workers and employers, and we know the impact that this entitlement can have. But by embedding this entitlement into the national employment standards, this legislation will take this figure from just over one million employees to 11 million employees. This legislation will not end domestic violence. This is a much, much bigger task and there is so much more to do but it is a very important step that will save lives, because no worker should ever have to choose between their safety and their income. No worker should ever have to choose between income and medical treatment. Every worker in Australia has the right to be safe at work and safe at home.</p>-
- The majority voted against an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2022-10-26.22.1) introduced by West Australian Senator [Michaelia Cash](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/wa/michaelia_cash) (Liberal), which means it failed.
- Read more about the arguments for and against this amendment [in the debate](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2022-10-26.22.1).
- ### Amendment text
- > *(1) Page 2 (after line 12), after clause 3, insert:*
- >
- > *4 Review of this Act*
- >
- > *(1) The Minister must cause an independent review to be conducted of the operation of the amendments made by this Act.*
- >
- > *(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider the impact of the amendments made by this Act on:*
- >
- >> *(a) small businesses; and*
- >>
- >> *(b) sole traders.*
- >
- > *(3) The persons who conduct the review must consider both quantitative and qualitative research in conducting the review.*
- >
- > *(4) The review must start as soon as practicable after the end of the period of 12 months after the commencement of Schedule 1.*
- >
- > *(5) The persons who conduct the review must give the Minister a written report of the review within 3 months of the commencement of the review.*
- >
- > *(6) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.*
<p>I want to thank the survivors and their advocates. I want to thank experts and frontline workers who have advocated for so long for this reform. I see that Samantha Parker is up there with her comrades and colleagues from the ASU in the gallery. I want to acknowledge the Australian Services Union, which represents frontline workers who help women fleeing domestic violence every day. Samantha Parker and her colleagues were there at the beginning, advocating and arguing for this reform, and they have been joined by many others. I want to acknowledge all those stakeholders, those willing people who put their shoulders to it and built the case for this bill year after year, decade after decade.</p><p>Preventing family violence is everyone's business. It is long overdue for the Australian government to show leadership in this way, and I am so proud to support this bill.</p> <p class="speaker">Dorinda Cox</p><p>I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. I want to acknowledge every Australian woman who has ever left a violent relationship and add my voice to this important issue that affects so many, too many in fact, as we heard by women even in this chamber yesterday—and thank you to Senator Green in particular for sharing her story, which is similar to mine and to many other women other women and children who are exposed to violence in their homes and in their communities.</p><p>This bill makes some changes that seem very simple. It increases family and domestic violence leave from five days unpaid to 10 days paid, regardless if you are full-time, part-time of a casual worker, and extends the definition of family and domestic violence. But make no mistake, these changes will have an enormous impact on those who need it. Many people who are victim survivors of family and domestic violence may not be able to afford to take five days of unpaid leave. They might be in a relationship, be single parents, or suffering from an abusive ex, family member or current partner, and, in First Nations communities, this also extends to our kinship groups. We do not consider ourselves in isolation but as members of a wider kinship group or community, where violence can be experienced and the impact of that is far reaching.</p><p>The truth is there are many ways family and domestic violence can take place and no instances are the same. For First Nations women, we know that the statistics are vastly different. We are 35 times more likely to experience domestic violence, and the cost of that is actually $2.2 billion per year. Before entering this parliament, I worked in the women's sector and, indeed, after that, I have heard from numerous forums and first-hand from women across the country who have told me about the barriers to escaping violence and the immediate impact on their participation in the workforce. They include accessing crisis services, accommodation, legal services and health and medical services.</p><p>The indirect psychological impacts incurred by women and children of that violence include pain, fear and suffering. Replacing damaged household items and school equipment, changing schools and the settlement of a partner's bad debt not only take time but carry a cost. The cost is not counted. We should also extend that to the cost of loss of opportunity, loss of employment and promotion opportunities, and the loss of quality of life due to being in or leaving a violent relationship.</p><p>I'm a member of the Senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children, and we've heard just this week that particularly First Nations women are up to 12 times more likely to be murdered, which means they're disproportionally overrepresented compared to other Australian women. Violence against First Nations women is significantly underreported and underpoliced, carrying a range of issues for participating in those legal processes, which also makes the evidentiary requirements for proof of violence occurring as one of the biggest barriers to accessing their leave entitlements.</p><p>Whilst this bill will save lives by providing a circuit breaker in the system for women's safety, we know that, on top of all the other challenges in reducing gender based violence, there are still racial biases that must be dismantled and culturally appropriate measures to be taken before First Nations women will actually not be at a higher risk but also to make workplaces safe places to disclose. The Greens have moved several amendments to this bill, the first to broaden the definition of 'family and domestic violence' for further clarity and to ensure that victims-survivors get the support that they actually need. The second allows for up to four days of unpaid leave to be taken on top of the 10 days of paid leave. This acknowledges that 10 days might actually not be enough, and indeed it is best practice that the minimum standard be 14 days, which my colleague Senator Waters has outlined. Finally, there's an amendment to insert a provision into the Fair Work Act that makes experiencing or having experienced family and domestic violence a protected attribute, which will help prevent potential workplace discrimination against an employee who discloses their situation.</p><p>In fact, all of these amendments have been called for by stakeholders, and I want to acknowledge the work of Senator Waters, as our portfolio holder, through the inquiry into this bill. We need to listen to the experts in this area about what's needed to end family and domestic violence. In my concluding remarks I want to say that paid family and domestic violence leave will help victims-survivors to leave potentially violent and abusive situations, but we also need to address the causal factors of this. We need to address the intergenerational trauma that people are carrying with them as survivors of family and domestic violence.</p><p>As a mother of two daughters these are important issues that require specific targeted resources to help heal and prevent violence experienced by women but also the impact on their children. Girls need an opportunity to thrive in the future. We need to address the underlying factors that lead to this abuse. We need to educate people about what respectful relationships look like. We need to address poverty and access to basic necessities, such as housing, which play a pivotal role in reducing violence in our communities. It is, in fact, our job in this place to ensure that we use our political will and our capital to make those life-altering changes to preserve, value and respect the lives of women.</p><p>In First Nations communities across this country we continue to ask questions like: how many more of our women, who are mothers and grandmothers, must die before our efforts in this place are clearly just not enough? Until we show the courage and the bravery that we applaud in our victims-survivors to address the underlying causes of gender based violence very little will change. All too often, under the current scheme, people are forced to choose between their job, their income and their safety, and this is not a choice that anyone should have to make.</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>I too rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 and I'm proud to be part of a government that introduced this bill as one of its first bills to this parliament. In the years to come it will be seen as one of the, hopefully, many great achievements of the Albanese-Labor government. Make no mistake: this bill will save lives. I want my fellow senators to think about this fact as they listen to the debate today and consider how they will vote.</p><p>Domestic violence is a shame to our nation. Family and domestic violence affects people from all walks of life, in every community, in every city and in every region across this country. The statistics are harrowing. Since the age of 15 approximately one in four women has experienced at least one incidence of violence by an intimate partner. About 2.2 million Australians have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Indigenous women are 35 times as likely to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women. Horrifically, on average, one woman is killed by her current or former partner every 10 days in Australia. For many women, the most dangerous place in Australia is their own home, a place where they should, at an absolute minimum, be able to feel safe. In the 10 years from mid-2002 to mid-2012, 488 women in Australia were killed by an intimate partner, representing 75 per cent of the total of 654 victims killed by an intimate partner. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen an increase in the prevalence of family and domestic violence.</p><p>Getting out of domestic violence situations is hard. I empathise with anyone in that situation and truly hope that this bill provides some support to make it easier to get out. Frontline workers have told us there are two issues at the forefront of the minds of women seeking to escape from violent relationships. First, they are worried about the disruption to the lives of their children. Second, they are worried about the disruption to their income and employment. Many can't leave violent situations without risking joblessness, financial stress, homelessness and poverty, so it leaves workers with nowhere to go, having to choose between their safety and their livelihood.</p><p>For those who don't believe this is an issue for the workplace, you are very, very wrong. More than 68 per cent of people experiencing family and domestic violence are in paid work. Women experiencing family and domestic violence earn 35 per cent less than those who do not, and it disproportionately affects women, who are more likely to be casual or part time. The cost to the national economy is huge, with estimates ranging between $12.6 billion and $22 billion per year. Employers are bearing significant costs, up to $2 billion a year, in the form of reduced productivity caused by absenteeism, and recruitment and retraining costs. Paid family and domestic violence leave will assist to reduce this cost.</p><p>Our legislation extends the Fair Work Commission's recent preliminary review by introducing a right to 10 days paid leave for all eligible employees covered by the national employment standards, including rostered casuals at the employee's full rate of pay. Excluding casuals altogether would have left 2.6 million employees, or 22.8 per cent of all employees, without this protection. It provides further incentive for employers to prefer casuals over permanent jobs. We have also extended the definition of family and domestic violence to include conduct of a member of an employee's household to recognise that Australians are living a more diverse and different arrangements. This new entitlement will take effect on 1 February 2023 for businesses other than small businesses with fewer than 15 employees, and on 1 August 2023 for small businesses, in recognition that they have limited human resources and payroll capabilities. The government will also be consulting on a package of implementation support measures for small business to assist with rolling out this entitlement. This bill is good policy, and those that work closely with the victims of domestic violence are clear as to its need.</p><p>Before I finish, I would like to take a quick moment to outline how to access support services for anyone in my home state of Tasmania. If you are listening in Tasmania and need support and counselling for domestic and family violence, you can contact the Family Violence Counselling and Support Service on 1800608122. This service operates between 9 am and midnight on weekdays and between 4 pm and midnight on weekends and public holidays.</p><p>In conclusion, I will just say this: as a nation, we can and must do better. This bill is one way that we can do better, so I encourage all my Senate colleagues to support this bill.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
-
|