Australia's 10 Days' Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave — a World-First Universal National Entitlement

The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022, passed by the Australian Parliament on 27 October 2022, added 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave to the National Employment Standards — the minimum entitlements underpinning every employment contract in the country. It took effect for employers with 15 or more employees on 1 February 2023 and extended to smaller employers on 1 August 2023, making Australia one of the first countries to legislate a universal, paid, national entitlement of this kind covering full-time, part-time and casual employees alike.
An independent statutory review conducted by Flinders University and released by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in 2024 found broad support from both employers and unions, and that victim-survivors who used the leave found it enabled them to address their safety without risking income or their job — 39% of users took leave to engage with police and more than 20% to access medical or legal support.
The same review, reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation under the headline "paid domestic violence leave underutilised in first year," found that stigma and low awareness of the entitlement among both employees and employers were the main barriers to take-up, and issued five recommendations — chiefly around raising awareness — rather than declaring the policy a settled success.

Read the full analysis: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-09/paid-domestic-violence-leave-underutilised-in-first-year/104447308