Logie JanDOMESTIC VIOLENCE—VICTIMS' PROTECTION BILLSecond ReadingJAN LOGIE (Green): I move That the Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill be now read a second time. Every year over half a million New Zealanders are directly impacted by family violence. This violence costs lives and robs all too many people of their sense of stability possibility and well-being. We remind ourselves that it's not OK but all too often we're at a loss of what to actually do to protect the victims. So it's with great pleasure I welcome back my Domestic Violence—Victims' Protection Bill to the House and thank Government members from the bottom of my heart for their support. This bill will provide employers with a framework to respond to the impacts of domestic violence in their workplaces now and provide victims with a pathway to safety and it re-establishes us as world leaders in the fight against gender-based violence. There were 167 submissions on this bill with 161 of them in support of the intent. The submissions came from unions community groups women's groups men's groups the Human Rights Commission the Children's Commissioner business and individual submitters—a true cross-section of our society. I want to thank all of the officials submitters and members of the Justice Committee who actively engaged to help develop a workable piece of legislation which you can see in the form of Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 39 on the Table. We always knew the original needed some work and I will talk through some of the changes that we've made in this SOP.First up it will provide up to 10 days' leave a year to victims of domestic violence or people caring for affected children. We've removed the requirement to provide a domestic violence document to be able to access that leave and I'm grateful to the many submitters who drew our attention to sick leave and tangihanga leave as examples that we could follow.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.JAN LOGIE: So as I was saying before I was interrupted this bill will enable victims and people caring for children who are victims to take up to 10 days' leave a year to deal with the impacts of domestic violence. It will also add new options for flexible working arrangements to provide employers and victims with a better template for talking through their needs in the workplace. This will have a flow-on benefit for meeting health and safety obligations. Employers will be required to respond in a much shorter time frame than the three-month standard for flexible working arrangements because we believe the impacts and the safety issues require this. We've worked with New Zealand First to get a time frame that will work for all businesses while recognising the safety needs of victims and we look forward to their SOP at the committee stage. While employers will maintain the ability to decline requests that they're unable to reasonably manage victims will be able to appeal a decision on certain grounds. We believe that this strikes the right balance between practicality and a duty to help someone who is in danger.We're removing Part 3 of the original bill which related to the Health and Safety at Work Act in favour of WorkSafe providing guidance to employers. We think this is more consistent with the original legislation and we have the assurances of the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety that this will happen and we are confident with that. The bill will also strengthen anti-discrimination measures in the workplace because we know this is essential if we are to enable victims to safely disclose to their employers.There are some in this House who say that employers are doing this all already so it's unnecessary. These same people seem to think five days' sick leave is enough to deal with flu going to court counselling and children experiencing trauma and recovery from assault. I do want to acknowledge the many employers who are already doing the right thing by their staff and the unions who have been seeking through bargaining to get these protections for staff. It really does feel as if this bill's time has come. However we can't delude ourselves. Even in the Public Service many if not most attempts to get these protections into contracts have in fact failed. We heard plenty of evidence through submissions that not all employers are adequately supporting their staff or know how to. Court staff told the select committee that victims regularly raised concerns about not having enough paid time off work to give legally required evidence in cases of domestic violence. Both Women's Refuge and Shine presented evidence of women losing jobs because of the abuse or leaving jobs because they were too scared or embarrassed to tell their employers.I want to particularly thank the survivors of domestic violence who bravely told their stories to help us understand the potential of this legislation. I want to particularly recall the story of Ann Simmons for the House. She told us about coming home from an afternoon shift as a nurse an hour later than expected and her partner not accepting her reason for being late. He went on to punch her in the face and the stomach throw her across the room and rape her before he passed out drunk. She got help to get out and her partner was arrested and charged but released once he sobered up—still obviously dangerous. She had no annual leave and had used most of her sick leave due to previous assaults and staying at home to protect her children. She had to call her boss and tell him she was a victim of domestic violence and needed time off—a really hard thing to do. In return her work suggested she resign. If this law had been in place she might've been able to hold on to her job and not in her words become yet another solo mum on the DPB." This was Ann Simmons' story. This story could be any of our stories.A New Zealand survey of 450 people commissioned by Women's Refuge last year found 60 percent of victims of domestic violence were in full-time employment before they entered an abusive relationship and yet more than half of them lost their jobs during that relationship. Those who stayed in employment were subjected to numerous hardships affecting their future employment prospects and those who left found it difficult to re-enter the workforce. Respondents from the survey frequently spoke about being forced to quit or having their employment situations made difficult by the abuser. This is clear evidence that the status quo is not good enough. In the words of the New Zealand Public Service Association "We can't keep treating the workplace as if it's somehow outside of our communities. We are all responsible for ending family violence and we cannot leave this responsibility at the workplace door." When half a million New Zealanders are directly impacted by domestic violence right now we know we need to do more than just business as usual. We need to step up as a society to create more pathways to safety. It's not enough to say "It's not OK." if we don't back that up with action. That is why I offer my sincere thanks to the Government parties in this House tonight for their support for a better future for all of us."