Victims of domestic and family violence will now be entitled to access paid leave.

All Australian workers will now have access to up to 10 days paid leave at the full rate of pay regardless of whether they are full time, part-time or casual employees.

“This change will save lives,” the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“Let us hope that in putting in place this measure it is used less and less in the future, as we go on.

“Part of tackling domestic violence of course is bringing it out into the open, talking about it.”

The changes kick in from February 1 for at least seven million employees in large and medium businesses across the country.

Meanwhile, employees at small businesses will be able to access the scheme from August 1 to give those employers time to adjust to the changes.

10 days of paid 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.

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

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
  • 1 August 2023, for employees of small business employers.

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 leave.

Taking family and domestic violence leave

Employees (including part-time and casual employees) can take this paid leave if they need to do something to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence.

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.

All the details on family and domestic violence leave can be found here