It’s For Every Body is an Australian unions campaign to win paid reproductive leave and flexibility entitlements for all workers.
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It recognises that many of these health issues can take a serious physical and mental toll on workers and can inhibit their ability to work.
Introducing paid reproductive leave and eligibility for flexibility entitlements on reproductive health grounds will help address the sigma around reproductive health issues.
Reproductive health leave entitlements will:
Promote health and wellbeing: by enabling workers to manage their reproductive health without compromising our pay or our employment.
Foster inclusivity: by recognising the diverse health needs of all employees and promoting a fair, safe and supportive workplace.
Encourage preventative care: by allowing time for necessary health screenings and treatments, reducing long-term health risks and interruption to works.
This leave will improve gender equality, help closing the gender pay gap between men and women workers and increase participation of women in the workforce.
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.
Contact us at [email protected] if you need support or have questions.
All workers regardless of sex or gender, will experience reproductive health issues throughout their working lives. The paid workplace entitlement we're fighting for would cover a range of issues, including:
The proposal also:
Join Victorian workers in the campaign by signing up on this page.
Sign the petition to show your support.
Complete the Reproductive Health and Work survey to share your story.
Are you campaigning for or have you won reproductive health leave at your workplace? Help build momentum by sharing your win!
Get more information and resources on the Australian Unions It's For Every Body page here.
Contact us at [email protected] if you need support or have questions.
Unions are leading the way gathering data, surveying members, improving awareness, developing resources, having hard conversations and bargaining for reproductive leave. Like every entitlement we've won, we know we need to organise collectively to win it!
Union members in the finance, health, public service and community sectors are already winning this in Victoria and around Australia. Union members 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 Queensland Council of Unions (QCU), the Queensland Government announced the introduction of an annual entitlement to ten days paid reproductive health leave for public sector workers.
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.
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.
In April 2025, a report by Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre commissioned by the Health Services Union, QCU and Aware Super estimated that not providing this entitlement costs the economy up to $21.3 billion annually in lost time, presenteeism, absenteeism and reduced workforce participation. The annual net cost of a universal entitlement would be $1.7 billion - the equivalent of only $140 per year per employed worker.
Check out the It's For Every Body campaign bargaining kit, poster and delegates guide at the bottom of this page.
Finance Sector Union: Menstruation and Menopause Framework.
McKell Institute: Suffering in Silence Report.
Health Services Union study: The costs and benefits of implementing a universal reproductive health leave entitlement in Australia
Contact us at [email protected] if you need support or have questions.