❓ Mrs O'Malley asks about the impact of paid family and domestic violence leave in the public sector. The Minister responds positively, highlighting uptake and broader influence on other employers.
AnsweredQoN 573Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE LEAVE — PUBLIC SECTOR
573. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for
Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's decision to provide paid family and domestic violence
leave across the public sector—a move that is now being followed by
many companies across Australia. Can the minister update the house on how this
policy is supporting those who are experiencing domestic violence and how this
has helped shine a light on this important issue?
VIOLENCE LEAVE — PUBLIC SECTOR
573. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for
Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's decision to provide paid family and domestic violence
leave across the public sector—a move that is now being followed by
many companies across Australia. Can the minister update the house on how this
policy is supporting those who are experiencing domestic violence and how this
has helped shine a light on this important issue?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that
question. It has been alarming but heartening to see the extent to which there
has been a take-up of the paid leave for people who need support if they are
experiencing domestic violence. Members may have seen the media reports, but in
the last six months we have had the equivalent of 150 days' leave being
accessed by public sector workers for support because they are experiencing
domestic violence. As I said, it is concerning but perhaps not surprising
because we know that we have a significant issue in our community. Why should
the WA public sector be any exception to that? In fact, we want people to come
forward and seek support. We want to make sure that they feel comfortable to
talk about the fact they are experiencing domestic violence. It is through no
fault of their own. We want them to seek support and we want to make sure
support is there for them.
It is important that as the state's
biggest employer, we are a model employer and that is what we have sought to do
in providing this 10 days' leave. Early in my period as minister, it
was heartening when a number of employers came to see me, including Rio Tinto,
asking what they could do to better support their employees in terms of family
and domestic violence. We discussed paid leave. Rio Tinto has now implemented
that across its workforce nationally. It has 19 000 employees nationally. It is
now actually white ribbon–accredited, taking a leadership position
amongst its mainly male-dominated workforce to say that domestic violence is
not acceptable.
As part of this paid leave, we have
also made sure that managers in the public sector are aware of what sort of
support they need to provide to employees, but that there are also contact
people who are trained on this issue. Their response needs to be to recognise
the different forms of domestic violence to respond to those employees
appropriately—not to try to fix their problems but to refer them to
specialist services. Of course, we want victims of domestic violence to stay at
work if they are working. We know that about one in five victims of domestic
violence are in paid employment. We want them to stay connected to their
workplace. We need them to be economically independent. They are experiencing
domestic violence in all its forms. It is not their fault; they are victims in
this process. We need to make sure that people come forward and seek support. I
am very proud of this initiative from the McGowan Labor government.
question. It has been alarming but heartening to see the extent to which there
has been a take-up of the paid leave for people who need support if they are
experiencing domestic violence. Members may have seen the media reports, but in
the last six months we have had the equivalent of 150 days' leave being
accessed by public sector workers for support because they are experiencing
domestic violence. As I said, it is concerning but perhaps not surprising
because we know that we have a significant issue in our community. Why should
the WA public sector be any exception to that? In fact, we want people to come
forward and seek support. We want to make sure that they feel comfortable to
talk about the fact they are experiencing domestic violence. It is through no
fault of their own. We want them to seek support and we want to make sure
support is there for them.
It is important that as the state's
biggest employer, we are a model employer and that is what we have sought to do
in providing this 10 days' leave. Early in my period as minister, it
was heartening when a number of employers came to see me, including Rio Tinto,
asking what they could do to better support their employees in terms of family
and domestic violence. We discussed paid leave. Rio Tinto has now implemented
that across its workforce nationally. It has 19 000 employees nationally. It is
now actually white ribbon–accredited, taking a leadership position
amongst its mainly male-dominated workforce to say that domestic violence is
not acceptable.
As part of this paid leave, we have
also made sure that managers in the public sector are aware of what sort of
support they need to provide to employees, but that there are also contact
people who are trained on this issue. Their response needs to be to recognise
the different forms of domestic violence to respond to those employees
appropriately—not to try to fix their problems but to refer them to
specialist services. Of course, we want victims of domestic violence to stay at
work if they are working. We know that about one in five victims of domestic
violence are in paid employment. We want them to stay connected to their
workplace. We need them to be economically independent. They are experiencing
domestic violence in all its forms. It is not their fault; they are victims in
this process. We need to make sure that people come forward and seek support. I
am very proud of this initiative from the McGowan Labor government.
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