The Labor Party has backed a campaign by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to give employees 10 days' paid domestic violence leave in the national employment standards.
Labor leader Bill Shorten said on Tuesday that his party would introduce the policy if it won government at the next election.
“We’ve listened to victims, frontline workers, business, and organisations that deal daily with domestic violence,” he said on Tuesday. “Their clear message is that people who have experienced domestic violence need more support in the workplace.”
Paid leave would give employees time to attend appointments to tend to legal, medical, and accommodation matters, and to leave abusive relationships if they or an immediate family member is experiencing domestic violence.
Many private Australian companies already offer domestic violence leave to their employees, with varying burdens of proof.
Companies including Bankwest, SGE Credit Union, and Virgin Australia require documentation as proof that an employee is a victim of domestic violence.
This can be provided by a police officer, court, lawyer, medical professional, or family violence support worker.
Companies including Qantas and Telstra require workers who take domestic violence leave to use the time off to attend legal, medical, or housing-related appointments.
Such initiatives have faced opposition from those who say domestic violence leave is too expensive, that it provides a "perverse disincentive" to hire women, or that it is not the responsibility of employers to pay women to "take a few weeks off because of [their] bad husband[s]".
Last year News Corp columnist Miranda Devine said domestic violence leave "encourages" false reports of violence and was the "new sickie".