Reproductive leave could be a ‘gamechanger’ for Australian workers – how would it work?​on January 12, 2025 at 2:00 pm

What is reproductive leave and why is it important?

Reproductive leave gives workers the right to paid time off specifically to manage or treat conditions, or undertake procedures, that relate to their reproductive health and wellbeing. 

Those could include dealing with period pain, endometriosis, IVF and other fertility related procedures, miscarriages and terminations, vasectomies and hysterectomies, pregnancy, breastfeeding and lactation, or contraception. 

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It is distinct from parental leave, which can be taken when a child is born or adopted, and personal/carer’s leave, which allows for paid time off to manage illness, caring responsibilities or family emergencies (not counting family and domestic violence, for which workers have a separate entitlement). 

At the moment, only a few Australian workers have an entitlement to reproductive leave. But there are growing calls to change that. 

The HSU’s national senior assistant secretary, Kate Marshall, says reproductive leave would be “a gamechanger for women dealing with painful periods, menopause and other reproductive health conditions”.

“The current system leaves too many workers facing a painful choice: suffer in silence at work or take unpaid leave. Reproductive leave is about fairness, dignity, and economic sense,” Marshall says.

How come not having it costs the economy so much?

Reproductive health issues affect an awful lot of working people, and women in particular.

A 2023 survey from not-for-profit women’s health organisation Jean Hailes found that 47% of Australian women had experienced pelvic pain in the previous five years, with nearly half of those (45%, equating to 21% of all Australian women) needing to take leave or an extended break from work or study to manage the pain.

The Curtin study released on Monday notes, among other things, that one in seven women are affected by endometriosis; 64% of middle-aged women experience symptoms of menopause with 17% forced to take extended leave due to severe symptoms; one in 18 babies is born through assisted reproductive technologies; and one-third of women experience miscarriages.

These all have impacts on people’s ability to work, including through absenteeism, “presenteeism” (where people turn up to work but are unable to be productive) and changes to personal circumstances, such as working less or retiring early.

Using personal or sick leave to manage these issues means a worker has fewer options when they fall ill in other ways or a family member needs care, resulting in many trying to work while sick or taking unpaid leave.

The Curtin Economics Centre estimates the cost of presenteeism to be particularly high, with women who suffer intense menstrual pain losing approximately nine days a year of productivity and women experiencing severe menopause symptoms working 25% less.

Does reproductive leave exist anywhere else?

The most common form of reproductive health leave internationally is menstrual leave. That was first implemented in the Soviet Union in 1922 and Japan in 1928. More recently, Spain made headlines when it approved up to 60 days of paid leave for period pain in 2023, though the wording of the law restricted it only to people with a formally diagnosed condition, and a year on, it had not been widely used. 

A smattering of private-sector employers in Australia, such as Cbus and Aware Super, offer menopause and menstruation leave. Reproductive leave, however, is much wider in scope. 

From October last year, Queensland public workers have been entitled to 10 days of reproductive health leave annually, while in September, workers at not-for-profit disability service provider Scope won 12 days reproductive leave as part of their enterprise agreement with the HSU. In August, the Victorian government also agreed to give public employees five days paid leave for “a reproductive health-related condition such as pregnancy, endometriosis, or menstruation”, but workers are only entitled to it if they have 15 days or fewer of personal leave accrued.

But wouldn’t it just mean women get extra days off?

Reproductive leave would be for anyone experiencing reproductive-related health concerns, illness or undergoing treatment, regardless of gender, recognising that every person has reproductive health matters they may need to deal with during their working life.

That includes things like hormone therapy, fertility treatments, vasectomies, preventive health care such as prostate exams or cervical screening, perimenopause and menopause, miscarriage, terminations and more. 

Dr Michelle O’Shea, senior lecturer at Western Sydney University’s school of business, says offering reproductive leave is “about equity, not equality” – that is, giving every worker the tools they need to succeed, not just treating everyone the same.

“We’re not looking at equality of opportunity, we’re looking at ways that workplaces can be made accessible for everyone, not just the unencumbered male,” O’Shea says. “So that goes to issues around all forms of intersectionality, things like ability and disability, for example, yet race and racial relations as well.”

O’Shea says she sees the material entitlement to reproductive leave as one part of a necessary culture shift.

“Although we want a leave entitlement, it’s really important that we also look at other organisational practices which sit alongside that – things like workplace adjustments and flexible work arrangements,” she says. That might also include training at a line-manager level on how to create a workplace environment where people feel comfortable requesting reproductive leave.

“As an employee in a workplace, when you feel supported, when you feel that your broader life needs have value, then research does tell us that your connection with the workplace and your propensity to go above and beyond is enhanced as well.”