SYDNEY, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Australia has become a global pioneer in paid time off and other workplace accommodations for victims of domestic violence, advocates say.
About 700,000 people are now eligible for domestic violence leave, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. They include state employees in New South Wales, employees of 20 local councils in Victoria and those at Queensland Rail.
Ludo McFerran, head of the Safe at Home Safe at Work project at the University of New South Wales, said she expects more private employers to come on board soon.
Employers with domestic violence leave have managers trained in dealing with victims. They offer a range of accommodations, depending on the situation, including paid time off, flexible hours and changes in email addresses and telephone numbers at work.
''It is pleasing that where society silently ignored domestic violence, we are increasingly willing to speak out against its perpetrators and support its victims. This should extend to the workplace,'' Bill Shorten, the national workplace relations minister said. ''If you don't oppose domestic violence and support women, then you are part of the problem.''
The Law Reform Commission has urged the national government to consider adding domestic violence leave to its workplace standards.
Phil Cleary, who became an advocate for victims of domestic violence after his sister, Vicki, was killed in 1987, said she might still be alive if her employer had protected her. She was killed as she parked her car outside the kindergarten where she worked by a man who had already threatened her there.
