Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Review

An independent statutory review into the operation of the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022.

Date opened
Date closed

Overview

The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022 (Cth) (the Act) introduced 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave to the National Employment Standards. The Act required an independent review to be undertaken as soon as practicable 12 months after commencement of the entitlement. The Review had to be completed and delivered to Government within 3 months and tabled in both Houses of Parliament within 15 sitting days of being received.

The Review was conducted by Flinders University and commenced on 15 May 2024. The final report of the review was delivered to Government on 30 August 2024 and the final report was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 9 October 2024.

Terms of Reference

The 3-month review was required by the Act to:

  • consider the operation of the amendments made the Act, including its impact on small businesses, sole traders and people experiencing family and domestic violence
  • be informed by qualitative and quantitative research

Final report

The final report makes 12 findings and 5 recommendations to improve the operation and impact of the leave entitlement.

Final report of the independent review

Government Response

The Government published a response to the review, agreeing to all recommendations made by the review, on 25 February 2025.

Australian Government Response

Further materials

BETA, the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, conducted research to inform the review about the impact of paid family and domestic violence leave.

A copy of the research report is available to view and download.

Research findings for the Independent Review

Written submissions to the review

The review received 18 written submissions from stakeholders, which subject to redactions by Flinders University, are published below.