We're campaigning for reproductive health leave and flexibility entitlements
About It's For Every Body
It’s For Every Body is an Australian Unions campaign to win 10 days paid reproductive leave and flexibility entitlements for all workers.
These entitlements would
- Promote health and wellbeing: by enabling workers to manage their reproductive health without compromising their employment.
- Foster inclusivity: by recognising the diverse health needs of all employees and promoting a fair and supportive workplace.
- Encourage preventative care: by allowing time for necessary health screenings and treatments, reducing long-term health risks.
Union members around the country are organising in their workplaces, their homes and their communities to raise awareness about the impact of reproductive issues on workers, and win support for access to paid leave and flexible work arrangements to manage these issues.
Want to get involved? Sign our petition to show your support.
Why do we need 10 days reproductive leave in the NES?
ABS data shows that 26.8% of working women retire under the age of 55, and that on average, women are retiring seven years before men, and 12 years before their desired age of retirement.
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees estimated in 2023 that menopause may cost women in the 50-54 age group more than $15 billion per year in lost earnings and superannuation for every year of early retirement. This amounts to a combined shortfall of over $112.2 billion in foregone earnings due to early retirement (7.4 years).
Millions of Australian women are impacted by chronic conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, with the economic cost of absenteeism, presenteeism and reduced workforce participation estimated to be several billion dollars.
What will reproductive leave do?
The benefits to employees from access to this paid leave entitlement are wide-ranging. Allocated time and flexible work options to manage issues arising from reproductive health and access to preventative health screening mean increased wellbeing, workforce participation and economic security, a better quality of life and increased early detection of health issues for workers and their families.
The benefits to employers include increased productivity, with employees empowered with transparency to plan and manage reproductive health issues and appointments. Employers can also manage and meet their duty of care to eliminate sex discrimination and to ensure workers’ health and safety while at work.
The benefits to community include breaking down stigma related to reproductive health, increased gender equality, closing the gender pay gap between men and women workers and increased participation of women in the workforce.
The campaign so far
Unions have led the way in gathering data, surveying members, raising awareness, developing resources and bargaining for reproductive leave and associated entitlements in workplace agreements.
Union members in the finance, manufacturing, public service and community sectors have successfully campaigned to win access to paid reproductive leave in the workplace agreements, and many other union activists are raising awareness and gathering support from workers, employers and elected representatives to include paid reproductive leave in the National Employment Standards so that ALL workers can access it.
In May 2024, after a successful campaign by QCU, the Queensland Government announced the introduction of an annual entitlement to ten days non-cumulative paid reproductive health leave for public sector workers. This entitlement was later extended to include employees working in Queensland Government Owned Corporations in power, water and ports.
In June 2024 the McKell Institute released the Suffering in Silence Report, calling for paid reproductive leave to be included in the Fair Work Act as a National Employment Standard in recognition of the physical time and mental toll on workers to manage reproductive health issues such as endometriosis, menopause, fertility treatment, vasectomies or other reproductive surgeries, as well as preventative healthcare testing for prostate and breast cancer.
In June 2024, 10 days Reproductive health leave in the National Employment Standards was adopted as a policy by the ACTU National Congress. Congress also adopted as policy that employees be able to make requests for flexible working arrangements for reasons relating to their reproductive health, and that reproductive health should be a standalone protected attribute in discrimination law.