Spotlight on economic abuse - Good Shepherd Youth & Family ...

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considered by community sector groups to have been positive initiatives for women who are parents and carers (ACOSS 2012). The discussion that follows considers some key areas of policy, practice and regulation relating to these issues. First it examines areas for regulatory intervention which are primarily directed to preventing violence through protective workplace measures. It then goes on to examine policies and practices relating to employment assistance and support, including for women who have experienced violence. The final section is a brief consideration of some preventative education and awareness raising strategies which have been targeted to workplaces and this discussion points to some issues and gaps around the engagement of key stakeholders. Responding to violence and regulating for security and safety at work Protective and tertiary interventions for women who have experienced family or domestic violence include the provision of paid leave clauses in enterprise agreements which set out employment conditions. Over the last couple of years family violence clauses providing leave provisions have been included in a number of enterprise agreements, including for public sectors workers in various states (Domestic Violence Workplace Rights & Entitlements Project 2011). These arrangements may well be picked up in other industries. A more comprehensive employment response to family violence would be for the inclusion of family violence in modern awards, which set out the minimum conditions for most employees in Australia. However, these awards are currently being reviewed and they may not be due for further systematic review for another four years. The other regulatory frameworks governing employment are the Fair Work Act and the National Employment Standards. Family violence leave provisions could be included in the latter while the Fair Work Act could provide for flexible work arrangements to meet the needs of someone experiencing domestic or family violence. These types of arrangements have been suggested by the ALRC (2011c) in its recent review. Workplace health and safety legislation in each state and territory set out employers’ obligations to provide safe and healthy workplaces. Recent initiatives promoting workplace responses to violence against women have included guides for the development of workplace safety plans for individual workers at risk of domestic and family violence. These projects also provide training materials, policy templates, model clauses, and guides for managers and supervisors and co-workers for responding to domestic and family violence VicHealth 2012; ADFVC Safe at Home, Safe at Work, ). Who’s leading change in workplaces? There have been a range of responses to domestic and family violence led by employers and corporate sponsors in Australia. One initiative specifically targeting workplace as sites for secondary and tertiary interventions is Australia’s CEO Challenge, a not-for-profit body which works with the corporate sector and domestic and family violence services in Queensland “to create and sustain a world free from family violence—where homes and workplaces are places of safety and care”. This organisation facilitates partnerships between corporate bodies and domestic and family violence services to sponsor services and programs and it also provides workplace education and training “to educate employers and their staff to recognise and deal with violence … and (to) educat(e) employers on how to best respond to an employee who may need help”. (, viewed 24 June 2012). 50
Other initiatives that rely on engaging employers have been led by federal and state governments with the consequences that they involve large organisations and the public sector and that small businesses are ‘largely absent’ (Chung, Zufferey & Powell 2012, p. 39; see also Murray & Powell 2008). Other initiatives with government funding include the White Ribbon’ campaign which targets men’s awareness and understanding of economic abuse including through working with large corporations. Other bodies have also targeted workplaces as sites for action including for example Women’s Health Victoria which has developed a guide for community organisations to provide professional development programs to prevent violence against women to businesses (Women’s Health Victoria 2012). These types of initiatives may have some success targeting smaller employers and employer bodies although it is not known if they have done so. Conclusion: participation, supportive workplaces and safety at work While employment participation is increasingly essential for lifetime economic wellbeing there remain significant gender inequities in opportunities for equitable participation and reward from work. These concerns have been at the centre of some recent policy developments in Australia and are key issues for all women as well as preventative measures at the societal level in relation to economic abuse. There are a range of secondary and tertiary responses which can be implemented at the workplace level to ensure women are safe at work and also to support those who experience violence. With federal funding of the ADFVC Safe at Home, Safe at Work project and commitment from the trade unions representing large public and community sector workforces (often female-dominated) there appears to be considerable momentum to implement these types of interventions. However, for the achievement of change which includes protection for women employed in smaller enterprises there would need to be broader regulatory change through changes to the National Employment Standards, the Fair Work Act and/or to anti-discrimination laws. There may also be opportunities for education and awareness raising targeted to small businesses. Strategies to assist women gain employment are likely to be critical for those women who have been outside of the paid workforce for any period of time, including as a result of economic abuse. 51
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Spotlight on Econo
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Contents List of Abbreviations ....
Page 6 and 7:
Executive Summary This literature r
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legal matters migration matters hea
Page 10 and 11: There is a need for greater support
Page 12 and 13: Overview This paper is organised as
Page 14 and 15: The DV Vic definition informs the u
Page 16 and 17: Case Study: Maria Maria’s husband
Page 18 and 19: Some ‘typical scenarios’ of eco
Page 20 and 21: As part of repeated or ongoing cont
Page 22 and 23: also outside the scope of this pape
Page 24 and 25: Influences, Impacts and Points of I
Page 26 and 27: Particular vulnerabilities to econo
Page 28 and 29: Exploring the impacts of economic a
Page 30 and 31: Impacts relating to child support.
Page 32 and 33: Compared with 1995, people were mor
Page 34 and 35: Public Policies and Practices There
Page 36 and 37: the legal frameworks affecting dome
Page 38 and 39: In addition to family violence poli
Page 40 and 41: Centrelink may seek to recover paym
Page 42 and 43: Services staff providing customer s
Page 44 and 45: perpetrators to be excluded from th
Page 46 and 47: purpose is to “build the capacity
Page 48 and 49: financial literacy strategy. Howeve
Page 50 and 51: or in any other way controls or dom
Page 52 and 53: In its recent review the ALRC ident
Page 54 and 55: and for the creation of a new tempo
Page 56 and 57: equiring assistance or consideratio
Page 58 and 59: establish if there is a need for re
Page 62 and 63: Community Services Policies and Pra
Page 64 and 65: Financial counselling services are
Page 66 and 67: Conclusion: Community services resp
Page 68 and 69: —— 2011, Forms of employment, A
Page 70 and 71: Chappell, D & Di Martino, V 2000, V
Page 72 and 73: se.unsw.edu.au/Conference%20papers/
Page 74 and 75: Northern Territory Government 2008,
Page 76 and 77: VicHealth—see Victorian Health Pr
Page 78 and 79: ALRC (2011c) recommendations for ch
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