Family and domestic violence leave

All employees can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. This includes part-time and casual employees.

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.

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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:

  • the employee's close relative
  • a member of the employee's household, or
  • a current or former intimate partner of the 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.

When employees can take this leave

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

The employee can take this 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 this outside their work hours.

For example, this could include:

  • making arrangements for their safety, or safety of a close relative (including moving house)
  • attending court hearings
  • accessing police services.

The leave doesn’t need to be taken all at once. It can be taken as single or multiple days.

An employer and employee can also agree for an employee to take less than one day at a time.

How the leave accrues

All employees get 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave upfront. They don’t have to accumulate the leave over time.

An employee’s entitlement to this leave renews every 12 months on the employee’s work anniversary. It doesn’t accumulate from year to year if it isn’t used.

Payment for the leave

Full-time and part-time employees are paid their full pay rate for the hours they would have worked if they weren't on leave.

Casual employees are paid their full pay rate for the hours they were rostered to work in the period they took the leave. If a casual employees takes the leave during a period they weren’t rostered to work, they don’t need to be paid for that period.

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.

Pay slip requirements

There are rules about information that must not be included on an employee’s pay slip relating to paid family and domestic violence leave. This is to reduce the risk to an employee’s safety when accessing paid family and domestic violence leave.

Learn the rules that apply at Pay slips.

Notice and evidence for the leave

If an employee takes paid family and domestic violence leave, they have to let their employer know as soon as possible. This can happen after the leave has started.

Employees also need to tell their employer how long they expect the leave to last.

An employer can ask their employee for evidence to show that the employee took the leave to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence. The evidence has to convince a reasonable person that the employee took the leave for this purpose.

If the employee doesn't provide the requested evidence, they may not be eligible to take the leave.

Types of evidence can include:

  • a statutory declaration
  • documents issued by the police
  • documents issued by a court, or
  • family violence support service documents.

Confidentiality

Employers have to take reasonable steps to keep any information about an employee’s situation confidential when they receive it as part of an application for leave. This includes:

  • information about the employee giving notice that they’re taking the leave
  • any evidence they provide.

Employers can disclose this information in some limited situations. For example, if it’s required by law.