New paid family and domestic violence leave

New paid family and domestic violence leave

Employees of non-small business employers can now access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period.

Employees of small businesses can access the leave from 1 August 2023.

Support services

1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.

Updated information and resources

Non-small business employers and employees

Paid family and domestic violence leave is available for employees of non-small business employers, from 1 February 2023.

Fair work have our updated their website and key resources to support these workplaces to introduce the new leave. Go to Paid family and domestic violence leave now.

Small business employers and employees

Employees employed by small business employers (employers with less than 15 employees) can access this paid leave from 1 August 2023.

Until then, they can continue to take unpaid family and domestic violence leave. Read about the existing rules at Unpaid family and domestic violence leave

10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave

All employees in the Fair Work system (including part-time and casual employees) will be entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period.

The new entitlement replaces the existing entitlement to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave under the National Employment Standards (NES).

It’s a standalone minimum leave entitlement, like annual leave or paid sick and carer’s leave.

Employees are entitled to the full 10 days upfront, meaning they won’t have to accumulate it over time. The leave doesn’t accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used.

The new leave entitlement is available from:

• 1 February 2023, for employees of non-small business employers (employers with 15 or more employees on 1 February 2023)
• 1 August 2023, for employees of small business employers (employers with less than 15 employees on 1 February 2023).

Employees can still access 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave until the new paid leave entitlement becomes available to them. Find out more about unpaid family and domestic violence leave.

How the leave renews

The leave renews every year on each employee’s work anniversary. It doesn’t accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used.

It’s also a standalone leave entitlement. This means employees get it separately from other types of leave, such as annual leave or paid sick and carer’s leave.

Employees who start on or after the date that the paid leave entitlement becomes available at their new workplace can access the full 10 days from their first day. The leave will renew on their work anniversary.

Employees who are already employed when the paid leave entitlement starts in their workplace can access the full 10 days on the relevant start date. The leave then renews on the anniversary of when they started working for that employer (not on the anniversary of the relevant start date).

For examples on how this applies, go to Taking paid family and domestic violence leave

Taking family and domestic violence leave

Employees must be experiencing family and domestic violence to be eligible to take paid family and domestic violence leave.

These employees can take this paid leave if they need to do something to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence and it’s not practical for them to do so outside of their work hours. This includes part-time and casual employees.

This could include, for example, the employee:

• Making arrangements for their safety, or the safety of a close relative (including relocation)
• Attending court hearings
• Accessing police services
• Attending counselling
• Attending appointments with medical, financial or legal professionals.

Meaning of family and domestic violence

Under the new provisions, an employee is experiencing family and domestic violence if the employee’s close relative, current or former intimate partner, or member of their household both:

• Seeks to coerce or control them and cause them harm or fear
• Is violent, threatening or behaves in another abusive way.

A close relative is:

• An employee’s
  • Spouse or former spouse
  • De facto partner or former de facto partner
  • Child
  • Parent
  • Grandparent
  • Grandchild
  • Sibling
• A child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of an employee’s current or former spouse or de fact partner, or
•  A person related to the employee according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules.

1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. This service can also provide confidential information about what it means to be experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence.

Payment for leave

Full-time and part-time employees can take paid family and domestic violence leave at their full pay rate for the hours they would have worked if they weren’t on leave.

Casual employees will be paid at their full pay rate for the hours they were rostered to work in the period they took leave.

An employee’s full pay rate is their base rate plus any:

• Incentive-based payments and bonuses
• Loadings
• Monetary allowances
• Overtime or penalty rates
• Any other separately identifiable amounts.

For examples on how this applies, go to our Taking paid family and domestic violence leave page.

Interaction with other paid leave

An employee can use paid family and domestic violence leave during a period of paid personal/carer’s or annual leave. If this happens, the employee is no longer on the other form of paid leave and is taking paid family and domestic violence leave instead. The employee needs to give their employer the required notice and evidence.

Pay slip requirements

There are rules about how information about paid family and domestic violence leave must be reported on pay slips and what information must not be included, including some transitional rules. This is to reduce the risk to an employee’s safety when accessing paid family and domestic violence leave.

Learn the rules that apply from our Pay slips page.

Notice and evidence requirements

If an employee takes paid family and domestic violence leave, they have to let their employer know as soon as possible. This could be after the leave has started. An employer can ask their employee for evidence to show that the employee needs to do something to deal with family and domestic violence and it’s not practical to do that outside their hours of work.

An employer can only use this information to satisfy themselves that the employee is entitled to family and domestic violence leave, unless:

• The employee consents
• The employer is required to deal with the information by law, or
• It’s necessary to protect the life, health or safety of the employee or another person.

The employer can’t use the information for other purposes, including to take adverse action against the employee.

All other rules about notice and evidence are the same as the currents rules for taking unpaid family and domestic violence leave.

Entitlements in agreements or workplace policies

Some workplaces may provide employees with paid family and domestic violence leave entitlements in registered agreements, employment contracts or workplace policies.

If the entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave in any of these instruments is less than the minimum entitlement under the NES, the NES entitlement applies.

Small business employers – what you can do to prepare

Find out more about unpaid family and domestic violence leave and download our Employer guide to family and domestic violence