Bill
Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022
passed, as at 2022-11-09. Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Employment and Workplace Relations
Recorded stages
- second reading — 2022-07-28
- second reading — 2022-09-05
- other — 2022-09-05
- second reading — 2022-09-06
- second reading — 2022-09-07
- second reading — 2022-09-07
- other — 2022-09-07
- third reading — 2022-09-07
- introduced — 2022-09-08
- second reading — 2022-09-08
- second reading — 2022-09-28
- second reading — 2022-10-25
- second reading — 2022-10-26
- second reading — 2022-10-26
- committee — 2022-10-26
- third reading — 2022-10-26
- other — 2022-10-27
- other — 2022-10-27
- passed — 2022-10-27
- royal assent — 2022-11-09
Divisions
- The majority voted against an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2022-10-25.9.2) to the usual second reading motion, which is "*that the bill be [read a second time](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/)*" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill. The amendment was introduced by West Australian Senator [Michaelia Cash](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/wa/michaelia_cash) (Liberal). ### Amendment text > *At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:* > > *(a) notes that employers may become aware that an employee is experiencing family and domestic violence when accessing paid family and domestic violence leave; and* > > *(b) calls on the Government to:* > >> *(i) publish clear and comprehensive guidance to assist employers in understanding any obligations that they may have to inform authorities that an employee is experiencing family and domestic violence,* >> >> *(ii) clarify its intent regarding whether perpetrators are able to access paid family and domestic violence leave,* >> >> *(iii) provide greater details about the impact of the introduction of paid family and domestic violence leave on small and family businesses, particularly those that employ casual workers, and* >> >> *(iv) provide resources to ensure that small and family businesses are not:* >> >>> *(A) adversely affected by the administration of the scheme, or* >>> >>> *(B) worse off financially".* — 2022-10-26, Senate: negative, ayes 29, noes 34
- The majority voted against [amendments](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2022-10-26.210.1) introduced by Tasmanian Senator [Jacqui Lambie](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/jacqui_lambie) (Jacqui Lambie Network), which means it failed. ### Amendment text Tasmanian Senator [Tammy Tyrrell](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/tammy_tyrrell) (Jacqui Lambie Network) [explained the amendments](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2022-10-26.211.1): > *Calling this 'emergency leave' would not require you to self-identify as having experienced domestic violence. You'd only need it to be an emergency—an unforeseen emergency at home—that would prevent you from coming to work that day.* > > *[...]* > > *You should be entitled to privacy. You should be entitled to safety. No lawmaker should make you choose between them. That's us. We shouldn't be doing what we're doing. When you ask for domestic violence leave, even in asking the question, you're explaining why you need it, and it's absolutely none of your employer's business why you need safety in that moment. It's an emergency; get out of the way. When you ask for emergency leave, on the other hand, you're saying you're experiencing an emergency, one that prevents you from attending your work for a period of time. Your boss might ask for evidence, but all you need is evidence you're experiencing an emergency. That would be an improvement, but it wouldn't take long for businesses to realise that anybody who's requesting emergency leave is requesting what used to be called domestic violence leave. It's a rose by any other name.* > > *So the second bit of what I'm proposing is to combine domestic violence leave with compassionate leave. That's the leave you take when there has been a death in the family. Combining the two would mean you'd be eligible so long as there's a family emergency. The grounds for eligibility would be the same: if you're eligible for what's currently — 2022-10-26, Senate: negative, ayes 3, noes 41
Plain-language summary
No machine-written summary in this export.
Sources
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