Wednesday the 15th of May 2024
Victorian Legislative Council, Melbourne
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Industrial Relations and relates to reproductive health leave. I stood in this place for International Women’s Day in March last year to advocate for reproductive health leave. It was not until over a year later that I received advice that my adjournment was better directed to the Minister for Industrial Relations, so here I stand again asking this government to act on reproductive health leave. Normalising and supporting reproductive leave will contribute to gender equality in the workplace and in society.
Since I raised this matter last year, Queensland has come out and announced new workplace entitlements for Queensland public sector workers, including a nation-leading 10 days of reproductive health leave. This leave can be used for things like fertility and IVF treatment, chronic reproductive health conditions like endometriosis, preventative screening for things like breast and prostate cancers and other reproductive health treatments like hysterectomies and vasectomies. Although ideally, we would like to see a broader approach that includes things like menstruation, abortion and miscarriages, this is still good to see a state government acting on this. Thankfully, they are not alone. The Victorian Women’s Trust has had it in place for years, and private companies like Future Super have limited menstruation and menopause policies that provide employees with extra paid leave or flexible working arrangements.
People are sick of using sick leave, personal leave and leave without pay to deal with reproductive health. Reproductive health leave would assist people enormously and keep them in the workforce longer. No-one should have to use their sick leave for essential bodily functions, so the action I seek is that the minister adopt reproductive health leave as a matter of government public policy.
Response Received, 9th of September 2024:
The promotion of gender equity in the workplace and employment opportunities for women is a key principle underpinning the Government’s approach to industrial relations in the Victorian Public Sector.
Through its Wages Policy and Enterprise Bargaining Framework, the Victorian Government encourages all public sector agencies to take a strategic approach to enterprise bargaining. It focusses on the Government’s operational and public sector priorities that deliver real benefits for the public sector and all Victorians. Relevantly, the Government’s Public Sector Priorities include the promotion and improvement of gender equity measures across the Victorian Public Sector. The Government recognises that enterprise bargaining is an important instrument to deliver such priorities. Wages Policy has been designed to encourage public sector employers to reflect these priorities in bargained outcomes and in their operational practices.
To that end, public sector employers and employees may negotiate conditions and entitlements, including provisions relating to reproductive health and wellbeing matters, pregnancy loss leave, menstruation and menopause leave and associated flexibilities, as well as other gender equity enhancements. By way of example, the current Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2024 sets out terms and conditions of employment for Victorian Public Service (VPS) employees covering a range of public service departments, administrative offices and other authorities. This newly negotiated enterprise agreement includes additional leave and other supports for employees experiencing reproductive health and wellbeing issues.
The Victorian Government is not a party to the employment instruments that govern employment relationships in the private sector, nor does it set minimum employment conditions for all Victorian employees. The National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provide for the minimum employment conditions that will apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system. To enable reproductive health and wellbeing leave to be made available to the broadest number of employees, across both public and private sectors, it is suggested that the Commonwealth Government would need to make amendments to the NES to provide such provisions as minimum entitlements.
Tim Pallas MP
Minister for Industrial Relations