About the campaign

In 2020, HACSU – a Victorian branch of the national Health Services Union – began this campaign to ensure any person, regardless of their reproductive health challenges, can fully and meaningfully participate in work, and in turn are afforded the social and economic security they rightfully deserve.

Since then, there have been significant wins in the Reproductive Health Leave (RHL) campaign.

Thanks to the work of the HSU and other unions, many employers have adopted variations of the leave clause into their workplace agreements. We want to see a consistent 12 days of paid leave made available to all workers through the National Employment Standards.

We’re also looking to expand the rights to flexible work arrangements to include reproductive health issues. We believe appropriate and reasonable adjustments to how the individual works will benefit both the worker and their employer.

In Queensland, ten days of RHL was introduced for public servants. We want to see RHL go national, for all Australian workers.

At first sight, it may look like reproductive issues only affect women, and only at a certain stage of life. But actually, it’s far broader than that. 

Through RHL all workers will have time and space to deal with a range of reproductive health issues, including:

  • Contraception
  • Endometriosis
  • Fertility treatments
  • Hormone therapy
  • Hysterectomy
  • Menstruation
  • Miscarriage
  • Pregnancy
  • Poly-cystic ovarian syndrome
  • Screenings for breast and prostate cancer
  • Termination
  • Vasectomy

Few issues are more important than our reproductive health. And RHL doesn’t just help the individuals who access it – evidence from overseas shows that it also benefits the companies that put it into practice, and wider society too.