Examining the impact of domestic and family violence across Australian workplaces and the need for improved workplace supports
Project team: Dr Emma McNicol, Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Sally Brewer
The last decade has seen increasing recognition that effectively addressing domestic and family violence requires whole-of-system responses, within which workplaces are increasingly recognised as sites of both perpetration and potential locations for victim-survivors to seek support. Despite increasing understanding of DFV as a workplace issue, as well as mounting awareness of the need for workplaces to introduce policies that support employees experiencing DFV, there have been no large-scale Australian national studies to date that invite victim-survivors to explain how DFV impacted their working lives.
Responding to this gap, this study undertook a national survey of DFV victim-survivors who had worked in Australia. The survey was designed to capture victim-survivors’ views on how their experiences of DFV impacted their employment, and the workplace response they received, if any.
About this project
Foregrounding the voices and experiences of 3,002 victim-survivors who worked in Australia while experiencing DFV, this study significantly advances Australia’s evidence base on how best to understand and respond to DFV within the workplace. The findings from this project are organised according to five key themes:
- The impact of domestic and family violence on employees
- Victim-survivors’ experiences of domestic and family violence during work hours
- Victim-survivors’ experiences disclosing domestic and family violence at work
- Victim-survivors’ experiences of workplace policies and responses to family violence
- Workplace cultures and the importance of cultural change
The findings and recommendations of this research are not industry specific and are relevant to all Australian states and territories.
Research design
This project examines DFV victim-survivors' experiences and expertise to advance Australia's evidence base on workplace supports for employees experiencing DFV. The data collection for this study involved a national survey with 3,002 respondents to allow a breadth of views to be captured. This approach allowed the research to capture victim-survivor employee views and experiences across a range of industries and employment types.
The survey also included a series of open-ended questions to give victim-survivors the opportunity to identify areas not anticipated by the research team, including ways DFV impacted their workplace experience as well as additional workplace supports that they thought could have been useful in securing their safety and supporting their ongoing engagement in work.
All data collection for this project was conducted during March and April 2022.
Final Report: From workplace sabotage to embedded supports
This study significantly advances Australia’s evidence base on how best to understand and respond to DFV within the workplace.
The findings from this project are organised according to five key themes:
- The impact of domestic and family violence on employees
- Victim-survivors’ experiences of domestic and family violence during work hours
- Victim-survivors’ experiences disclosing domestic and family violence at work
- Victim-survivors’ experiences of workplace policies and responses to family violence
- Workplace cultures and the importance of cultural change
The research findings and recommendations raise a number of implications for workplace policies and culture. The findings highlight the critical need for workplaces across Australia to not only view DFV as a workplace issue, but also to embrace the introduction and expansion of DFV workplace supports — alongside the cultivation of a compassionate, trauma-informed supportive workplace culture — as a basic responsibility.
Access a copy of the full report here.
Access a copy of the report Executive Summary here.
Citation: McNicol, E., Fitz-Gibbon, K., and Brewer, S. (2022) From Workplace Sabotage to Embedded Supports: Examining the Impact of Domestic and Family Violence across Australian Workplaces. Monash University, Victoria, Australia. DOI: 10.26180/21268686
Funding acknowledgement
This project forms part of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre’s Safe and Equal @ Work program, which is funded by the Victorian Government ’s Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF).