Fair Work (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from16 November 2022.)

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (17:10): I am pleased to speak on this bill. I am not the lead speaker, but I am very convenient. The lead speaker will go into a lot more detail about the opposition's response to the bill, but I take the opportunity to express my support for the bill. This is a very big step forward in removing the demonisation of discussing domestic violence and domestic abuse.

I dream of the day when there are no questions asked and there is no curiosity that needs to be satisfied when somebody's habits change because of a situation that may have happened at home and that people are very supportive. Rather than discriminating against that person or making that person change the way they are conducting themselves or the way they work, how they work, we should look at the cause of the situation, for instance, the perpetrator of the domestic abuse, which is where we need to focus.

In my view, what the bill will do is remove the focus away from the victim and force people to focus more on the perpetrator. I think the more we focus on perpetrators of domestic violence the more we will reduce instances of domestic violence and de-normalise it. There are still individuals and communities in Australia today who see domestic violence as a normal part of a relationship or a normal part of family life, particularly children born into a violent relationship who have had no other examples of appropriate behaviour by the dominant partner in a relationship. Usually the dominance is because of the physical size of the partner who is violent.

There are also other forms of domestic abuse, of course. There is the control of the family finances and the control of the social life outside the relationship where one partner may be permitted to have a social life and the other partner's social life is vetted by the dominant partner. Of course, all of that is wrong. Partnerships should be equal and communities should not tolerate it when they witness partnerships where there is a victim of domestic abuse.

I do not hear it very often these days, but 10 or 15 years ago, if I was at a blokey event and I heard people talking about their wives and somebody saying, 'She's off spending my money,' I would say, 'Why is it your money? She's at home looking after your children; why is it your money?' It was a bit of a conversation killer. I do not hear it very much at all these days.

I think that is because we are seeing a lot more partnership in the bringing up of children, although we do see reports that women are still doing more of the domestic duties at home. We are seeing that coming up in surveys time and time again—obviously, that needs to change—but also we are seeing that men, who traditionally are not the primary caregivers, are spending a lot more time in that role of caring for the children and family responsibilities.

It is evolving. When my mother was married in 1957, I think it was, she had to give up her job because that was culturally what happened in Australia. Women gave up their job because it was expected that their husband would support them in that role. That was culture, but that was wrong. I never accept an excuse for domestic abuse or domestic violence in any relationship because it is culture.

We had those sorts of cultures here in Australia and some of them are still here because there are some old-fashioned people who, even if they might be young, may have grown up in an environment where that was seen as acceptable. I think the main point about this bill is that it will be unlawful to treat someone unfavourably because they or their relative or associate has been subject to domestic abuse.

The bill will aim to protect victims and their families in public life, including in employment, education or when they are accessing services or accommodation. We know, when there has been an reportable offence and a charge has been laid, how often it is that a woman and her family are forced to leave their home and the perpetrator gets to stay in the home. It is a very topsy-turvy way of dealing with a very difficult issue in the home. The perpetrator is rewarded. They do not go through the inconvenience of having to move and find somewhere else to live, whereas the victim is the one who has to find somewhere to live, find where to pay the rent, and still have that full responsibility of being the primary carer of any children who are involved in that.

We know that that can be a very difficult situation to get accommodation in currently, where there are some landlords who might decide, 'This is a bit risky for me. I do not want to get involved. Who knows what is going to happen in this domestic violence or domestic abuse situation. I do not want the windows smashed by the husband coming around. I am not going to rent to this woman who is a victim of domestic abuse.'

I think this bill sends a very strong signal that this is a community issue; it is not a private issue. In the olden days, it was seen as being a private issue. It was seen as being an issue between a husband and a wife. That is simply not the case. Domestic violence and domestic abuse are community issues.

It is a criminal issue and so consequently the focus has to be on the victims and I believe that is what this bill does. It sends a very strong message to those who are in positions of making decisions about employment, education, accommodation that it is wrong to discriminate against somebody who is in the position that they are in because of domestic abuse. I commend the bill to the house and look forward to listening to the debate and perhaps even contributing further in another stage of the passage of the bill.

Mrs PEARCE (King) (17:19): Leaving a violent relationship is not easy. Imagine not only having to make the decision to leave everything that you hold dear because your life is at risk, but the fear of the repercussions of leaving, should it not go the way that it was intended. You need support, you need to feel empowered and you need to feel strength—even when you feel there is nothing left. You need help to leave, and one such way for us to provide that support, strength and empowerment is to make it law that you need leave to be able to leave.

I am proud to stand here today to speak in support of the Fair Work (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Amendment Bill, which goes even further to protect a hard-won right by workers last year. I was so proud to stand side-by-side with workers, advocacy groups, women, and others who support women and recognise them as equals in our society. It has been a decade of campaigning led by workers, but we got there. The right was finally implemented into the National Employment Standards last year by the federal Labor Albanese government, granting the right to millions of Australian workers—a right that, as of last week, now grants every worker across this country access to paid domestic and violence leave.

It is estimated that it can take 140 hours and up to $20,000 to leave a violent relationship, which is why having the ability to leave while retaining job security is so important. The right to 10 days was hard fought for and hard won by the many workers who campaigned for it, and it is a right that will absolutely save lives.

On average, a woman is killed by an intimate partner every 10 days, with rates of violence even higher for certain groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. On top of that are horrifying and shameful statistics that one in four women have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15, with one in four women also experiencing emotional abuse by a current or former partner since the age of 15. Ninety-five per cent of people who have experienced physical or sexual violence name a man as the perpetrator of at least one instance of violence, and around four in five family and domestic offenders are men.

Just this weekend, I stood with women from all walks of life—including the member for Elder in this chamber right now—to honour the 60 women who were killed across Australia last year. As we honoured them, we sat through the harrowing details of what had befallen them. Many were burnt, beaten or stabbed to death, and the greatest injustice of all was that in many of these cases the women remained unnamed.

I was a place-card holder for Ms Amneh al-Hazouri, also known as 'Amy', who was killed as a product of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was a woman who worked six days a week to provide for her sick mother and had been planning a trip home to Lebanon to visit her. She has been described as someone who always had a smile and offered a hand wherever needed. Now, thanks to the atrocious acts of some, her family, friends and community have all been robbed of that generous soul. For every murder, children, families and communities are impacted forever and the weight of the intergenerational trauma looms. We as a society need to do better.

Violence against women affects all aspects of their lives. It can have a negative impact on their capacity to attend work, with 48 per cent of women who had experienced violence saying that it reduced their attendance at work. The cost of violence against women and children costs the national economy $26 billion each year, with victim survivors having to bear approximately 50 per cent of that cost. With victim survivors having to bear approximately 50 per cent of the cost of violence against women and children, it is no surprise that it is also a leading cause of homelessness for women, and for children as well.

When children are exposed to violence, they may experience long-lasting effects on their development, their health and their wellbeing. This is nothing short of a serious problem today, but it is a serious problem that is going to have long-lasting impacts on the health and wellbeing of our nation, and it deserves our full commitment to addressing it.

The rate of domestic and family violence against women within this country is a blight on this nation. We have an obligation to do all that we can to ensure the safety of women across our state, and this is one way that we can assist in doing that.

We know that victims of domestic violence are often facing many complex problems such as food insecurity, and the struggle to obtain and retain affordable housing with the added pressure of also having to cover basic expenses, which we are all aware are only increasing with the cost-of-living crisis that we are facing.

Additionally, there are often added levels of anxiety when it comes to supporting their children, which is even more exacerbated for victims of family and domestic violence who are low income earners. We of course know that women are over-represented in low-paid, casual roles with limited entitlements to leave. Often, victims are struggling to secure the resources that they need to lead lives that are safe, comfortable and also free of violence.

When employees must deal with the impact of family and domestic violence, those who do not have this provision had little choice. If they were to take a few hours, a day, a week or the 140 hours that it can often take to leave a violent relationship, their choice was unpaid leave, which means sacrificing income in both the short term and long term, and also sacrificing the ability to access support. That is why it is so important that workers have stable, reliable and secure jobs as these in turn lend themselves to financial security, which can help women to escape and avoid family and domestic violence.

This is not good enough, and that is why I am glad that this right is now enshrined in the NES for millions more workers across this country. But if we can do more to protect victims and survivors of family and domestic violence, we must do so. That is why I am so proud to speak in support of this bill here today. I am proud because we are setting the benchmark for paid domestic violence leave for the rest of the country, going even further than those rights enshrined in the NES.

Setting the benchmarks around the nation, this bill will ensure that all workers covered under the South Australian industrial relations system are entitled to 15 days of family and domestic violence leave, ensuring that workers can leave to attend medical appointments, seek legal advice or assistance, attend or make arrangements for proceedings, relocate residence or for any other purpose relating to a worker who is dealing with the impact of family and domestic violence.

Fifteen days of leave for people impacted by family and domestic violence will mean that workers are better placed to take the necessary steps to better ensure their safety whilst retaining the job security needed to make important decisions instead of having to choose between being safe and secure, and being employed.

Put simply, the proposed changes brought by this bill will work to address gender equity by addressing those socio-economic impacts of family and domestic violence that have a disproportionate impact on women. By increasing the security of employment and the associated loss of income that dealing with family and domestic violence can often bring, this bill works towards ensuring the safety of women in our state.

This bill is going to send a clear message to the community that the public sector and local government do not, and will not, tolerate domestic violence. Our government has a strong commitment to achieving gender equality and ending the scourge that is domestic and family violence, and other forms of disrespect and discrimination that have a disproportionate effect on women in our community.

We are committed to working alongside service providers, women's organisations, women experiencing domestic violence, and other stakeholders to use all levers available to us to prevent and end domestic violence. We are committed to enacting a range of legislative changes, preventative actions and policies, and options for recovery that help women stay safe. We are committed to working with the finance and real estate sectors to determine how we can best ensure that victims of violence do not bear the brunt of mortgages, loans and rent that often goes unpaid due to domestic violence.

Already we have committed to and restored the $800,000 of funding over four years to the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service that was cut by the former government, an integral service helping women with intervention order applications, variations, revocations, ending tenancies and liaising with police to report breaches of intervention orders and other domestic issues, as well as reinstating the $1.2 million in funding to Catherine House, a cruel cut to an organisation that performs a vital service, offering a safe and secure place for women experiencing homelessness, which we know often results from domestic violence.

Again, last week I attended an event that was raising funds for Catherine House. It was there I heard from Tania Smith who shared her story with us, a woman who had a fantastic childhood but for whom life gradually got tougher, through no fault of her own, until she finally reached rock bottom. What helped her to get back up on her feet was the support and empowerment she received from Catherine House. She is now thriving; in fact she has a show this year at the fringe called Singapalooza, and I thoroughly encourage all to go.

I want to send a clear message to anyone out there dealing with domestic and family violence: we are here to support you. Our government is wholly committed to making a real difference in the life of women in South Australia. We will always speak up and act to prevent and end domestic violence. It has no place anywhere in our community, and this bill is one of the many ways we are committed to ensuring its end. I commend this bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.