Include an entitlement to paid family violence leave for employees

The Victorian Government has ensured all 297,000 Victorian public sector employees have access to 20 days paid family violence leave, and has also introduced an entitlement to unpaid family violence leave for casual employees. This entitlement is now mandatory in all prospective Victorian public sector enterprise agreements.

The Victorian Government has encouraged the Commonwealth Government to amend the National Employment Standards in recognition of the importance of an entitlement to family violence leave. In May 2016, the Victorian Government lodged a submission with the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) Four Yearly Review of Modern Awards.

The Victorian Government supported, in principle, the Australian Council of Trade Union's claim for the inclusion of family and domestic violence leave in all 122 modern awards. The government’s submission supports the provision of family and domestic violence leave in all modern awards but does not outline the amount of leave to be included in modern awards.

The Premier has advocated the need for a strong, coordinated effort through COAG to drive the level of national reform needed to ensure that women and children are kept safe. In October 2016, the Premier lead a delegation of experts from the Victorian family violence sector to attend the COAG Summit on reducing violence against women and children in Brisbane.

At the summit, the Premier advocated for national reform on family violence and highlighted the progress Victoria is making on implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence, particularly those with national implications.

At the December 2016 meeting of COAG, Victoria presented a paper seeking COAG’s agreement to consider introducing paid family violence leave in the National Employment Standards. COAG noted the importance of encouraging employers to provide appropriate workplace support to employees experiencing family violence. COAG noted that the independent FWC is currently considering an application to include an entitlement to ten days of paid domestic violence leave in all modern awards. COAG agreed that this issue will be considered at the first COAG meeting following the FWC decision.

In May 2017, the FWC decided to refer questions of law regarding its ability to decide the matter to the Federal Court of Australia. Following determination of these questions by the Federal Court, the FWC is expected to issue its final decision. On 3 July 2017, FWC ruled against including paid family violence leave in the modern awards, and the matter can now be further considered by COAG.

This recommendation is implemented, however the Victorian Government will continue to show strong leadership on the issue of family violence leave, driving reform at the state level and ensuring the positive effects of these changes are promoted at the Commonwealth level.