Campaigns
Latest News
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They can’t ‘just leave’: escaping family and domestic violence takes time and money
28 November 2017 -
Ged Kearney and delegation of front-line workers call on Turnbull, Cash, Porter to act on Family and Domestic Violence
19 October 2017 -
Wages are going backwards - rules at work are broken
17 August 2017 -
New report reveals retirement is not so super for women
20 July 2017 -
Senate Committee recommends better paid parental leave and access to pay equity
20 June 2017 -
ASU members win: paid parental leave cuts abandoned
25 May 2017 -
Another generation locked into income inequality under Turnbull
23 May 2017 -
#Budget2017: the cuts are below the headlines with the devil in the detail
09 May 2017 -
Penalty rate decision opens door for pay cuts in nursing, teaching and other sectors
10 March 2017 -
ASU tells Senate to oppose Liberal cuts to paid parental leave
25 January 2017
Life & Family Friendly Workplaces
Making workplaces life and family friendly
We work to live, not live to work, so ensuring that workplaces don't adversely affect our private lives and actually support better communities, is something unions have fought for over generations. Even the introduction of the Minimum Wage in Australia was based on supporting family needs with a living wage.
In more recent years, campaigns have focussed on paid parental leave, the right to access flexible work arrangments and special provisions for workers experiencing violence at home. Each of these campaigns, and others, are driven by a vision of Australian communities that are inclusive and that foster our future generations.
Australian workers are not units of labour to be exploited by industry for every iota of productivity they can extract. Australian workers are people, with lives outside the workplace.
It was ASU members who started the We Won’t Wait campaign for universal 10 days paid domestic violence leave over 10 years ago. From the very beginning we insisted that this needed to be a universal paid entitlement. After a hard fought campaign, the Commonwealth Parliament has passed legislation to include 10 days paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave in the National Employment Standards. A woman’s right to safety can’t be dependent on who her employer is, how many hours she works, or how she is employed. ASU members worked to make sure this leave is a right for every single worker: for this right to be paid and universal. Enshrining this workplace right into legislation means nearly every worker in Australia including casual, part time and permanent workers will have the security to leave a dangerous relationship. Who can access paid family and domestic violence leave? 10 days of paid domestic violence leave is now accessible to all workers as part of the National Employment Standards, along with other entitlements like sick leave and annual leave. Domestic violence leave is the first paid entitlement to be available to casuals as well. The full ten days is available to part time employees, not on a pro-rated basis. Every worker will be able to access 10 days paid domestic violence leave per year, and this amount does not accrue year to year. How to access paid family and domestic violence leave? You can claim this leave in the exact same way you would apply for other leave like sick and annual leave. Unions are working with the government to educate workplaces to set up private and secure protocols, to make sure this leave is implemented safely in your workplace. If you have any questions about implementing safe and sensitive measures in your workplace, please get in contact with us. http://www.asu.asn.au/contact Congratulations to every ASU member – you should be incredibly proud that you helped win this for 11 million workers in Australia.
Family Domestic Violence Leave ASU IR Reform Fact Sheet