Paid family and domestic violence leave
Paid family and domestic violence leave for some employees
From 1 February 2023, employees of non-small business employers (employers with 15 or more employees on 1 February 2023) can access 10 days of paid family domestic violence leave. This includes part-time and casual employees.
The information on this page has now been updated to reflect this new leave entitlement.
Employees employed by small business employers (employers with less than 15 employees on 1 February 2023) can access paid leave from 1 August 2023. Until then, they can continue to take unpaid family and domestic violence leave. Learn more at Unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
Employees of non-small business employers can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. This includes part-time and casual employees.
On this page:
- Support services
- Who can take paid family and domestic violence leave
- Meaning of family and domestic violence
- When the leave is available
- How the leave accrues
- Registered and enterprise agreements
- Workplace policies
- Tools and resources
- Related information
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.
Who can take paid family and domestic violence leave
All employees of non-small business employers can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. This includes part-time and casual employees.
A non-small business employer is one with 15 or more employees on 1 February 2023.
Employees must be experiencing family and domestic violence to be eligible to take paid family and domestic violence leave.
When employees become eligible for this paid leave, it replaces their previous entitlement to 5 days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave.
The entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave comes from the National Employment Standards (NES). It’s a minimum leave entitlement, like paid annual leave or paid sick and carer’s leave.
Meaning of family and domestic violence
Family and domestic violence means violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by certain individuals known to an employee that both:
- seeks to coerce or control the employee
- causes them harm or fear.
The individual could be:
- an employee's close relative
- a member of an employee's household, or
- a current or former intimate partner of an employee.
A close relative is:
- an employee's:
- spouse or former spouse
- de facto partner or former de facto partner
- child
- parent
- grandparent
- grandchild
- sibling
- an employee's current or former spouse or de facto partner's child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling, 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.
When the leave is available
Employees of non-small business employers can access paid family and domestic violence leave from 1 February 2023.
Employees already employed by a non-small business employer on 1 February 2023 can access the 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave from that date.
Employees who start work for a non-small business employer after 1 February 2023 can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave from the day they start work. For example, if an employee starts on 1 March 2023, their paid leave entitlement is available from then.
How the leave accrues
An employee’s paid leave entitlement is available in full immediately and resets on the employee’s work anniversary. It doesn’t accumulate from year to year.
Example: Accessing paid leave for non-small business employees
Amy is a full-time employee who started working for a large cleaning business on 7 September 2020.
From 1 February 2023, Amy is entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave.
In June 2023, Amy uses 2 days of paid leave to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence by accessing police services and attending counselling. Her leave balance reduces to 8 days.
Amy’s entitlement to paid family and domestic violence leave renews to 10 days on 7 September 2023. This is the anniversary of her start date with her employer.
Registered and enterprise agreements
Employers and employees should check any agreement that applies to them, to see if it provides any additional entitlements or conditions for dealing with family and domestic violence.
Eligible employees get 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave even if their agreement provides less. This is because the NES always applies as the minimum entitlement, even if an award or agreement provides less.
Types of agreements include:
- registered agreements
- enterprise awards, or
- state reference public sector awards.
You can go to the Fair Work Commission - Find an agreement database to search for an agreement.
Workplace policies
Some businesses may provide paid or unpaid family and domestic violence leave entitlements in their employment contracts or workplace policies.
If an employment contract or workplace policy has less than the minimum entitlement in the NES, the NES entitlement applies. This means eligible employees get 10 days paid leave to deal with family and domestic violence, even if a contract gives less.
Example: Workplace policies about family and domestic violence leave
Jo is entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year under the NES.
Jo’s employer also has a family and domestic violence leave policy that provides all employees with an entitlement to 2 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year.
Jo’s entitlement under the NES is more generous than their employer’s policy. This means Jo is entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year.
Tools and resources
- Employer guide to family and domestic violence
- Family and domestic violence fact sheet
- Difficult conversations in the workplace - employee course
- Difficult conversations in the workplace - manager course
