Domestic and family violence leave across Australian workplaces: Examining victim-survivor experiences of workplace supports and the importance of cultural change
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/26338076221148203 |
| Author | Kate Fitz-Gibbon,Naomi Pfitzner,Emma McNicol |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Domestic and family violence
leave across Australian
workplaces: Examining
victim-survivor experiences of
workplace supports and the
importance of cultural change
Kate Fitz-Gibbon
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, and School
of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia
Naomi Pfitzner
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre,
and Criminology, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia
Emma McNicol
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre,
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
There is increasing recognition across Australian industries, workplace policy makers and
researchers that domestic and family violence (DFV) is a workplace issue. DFV not only
impacts victim-survivors’engagement in the workforce but their work performance, job sat-
isfaction, productivity and career progression. The economic costs of DFV to Australian
workplaces are well documented; however, there is limited research capturing the work-
places’experiences of DFV victim-survivors. Reflecting increasing acknowledgement of the
need for workplaces to offer supports to employees who are experiencing DFV, in
October 2022, the Commonwealth Government passed legislation that introduces a 10-day
paid DFV leave provision into National Employment Standards. Recognising the critical
Corresponding author:
Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, and School of Social Sciences,
Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Email: kate.fitzgibbon@monash.edu
Article
Journal of Criminology
2023, Vol. 56(2-3) 294–312
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/26338076221148203
journals.sagepub.com/home/anj
opportunity that the new legislation presents for improving DFV workplace supports, this art-
icle offers victim-survivor led understandings of what is needed to ensure the new paid DFV
leave provisions are introduced and embedded effectively across Australian workplaces. It
centres the experiences of victim-survivors by drawing on the findings of a national survey
and in-depth interviews conducted with over 300 Australian DFV victim-sur vivors. The find-
ings are relevant to current policy and practice debates across Australia.
Keywords
Domestic and family violence, violence against women, workplace supports, paid domestic
violence leave, cultural change
Date received: 23 May 2022; accepted: 11 December 2022
Introduction
There is increasing recognition across Australia and internationally that domestic and family
violence (DFV) is a workplace issue (Champions of Change Coalition, 2021; McNicol,
Fitz-Gibbon & Brewer, 2022; Murray & Powell, 2008). DFV is a term used to capture all
forms of abusive behaviour within intimate partner and family relationships, including family-
like settings, that is violent, controlling, coercive and/or threatening (Department of Social
Services, DSS, 2022). DFV can include physical assault, stalking, property damage, financial
abuse and control, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, threats to harm, and other coercive and con-
trolling behaviours (DSS, 2022). DFV is a gendered phenomenon, with women in Australia
nearly three times more likely than their male counterparts to experience intimate partner vio-
lence (ABS, 2017). DFV can affect employees’participation, performance and safety at work,
often adversely impacting on relationships with co-workers. Perpetrators often target victim-
survivors at their workplace and during work hours engaging in work interference strategies
such as abusive emails and phone calls and physically presenting at the workplace
(Fitz-Gibbon et al., 2021). There is growing consensus that workplaces can play a critical
role in supporting employees affected by DFV (Champions of Change Coalition, 2021;
KPMG, 2016; McCarthy, 2018; McNicol, Fitz-Gibbon & Brewer, 2022).
The economic costs of DFV to workplaces are well documented in terms of absenteeism,
staff turnover, reduced job satisfaction and productivity (KPMG, 2016, Mighty, 1997;
Reeves & O’Leary-Kelly, 1997). It is estimated that lost productivity related to DFV cost
the Australian economy $609 million dollars in 2020/2021 with $235 million borne by employ-
ers (The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009).
Research consistently shows that DFV impacts victim-survivors’participation and engagement
in paid work (LaVan et al. 2012; McNicol, Fitz-Gibbon & Brewer, 2022; Swanberg et al.
2006). A 2011 survey revealed that 48% of Australians experiencing DFV reported that
their experiences of violence affected their capacity to get to work (McFerran 2011). More
recently, the 2016 Personal Safety Survey found that one in five Australian women had
taken time off as a result of a previous partner’s violence (ABS, 2017). Similarly, one in 11
Australian women had taken time off work as a result of a current partner’s violence (ABS,
2017). DFV victim-survivors are more likely to be late and absent (McNicol, Fitz-Gibbon &
Brewer, 2022; Reeves & O’Leary-Kelly, 2007). Individuals experiencing DFV are likely to
Fitz-Gibbon et al. 295
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