Aware Super broadens employee health leave policy

Aware Super has introduced a new reproductive health leave policy, expanding eligibility beyond its previous menopause leave scheme and increasing paid leave available to staff. The change forms part of the fund’s newly negotiated three-year enterprise agreement and provides eligible permanent and maximum-term employees with up to 12 days of paid leave each year.

The entitlement replaces a 10-day menopause leave policy that had only been available to permanent staff. Unlike the previous arrangement, the new leave covers a wider range of reproductive health needs.

Employees can use it for fertility treatment, endometriosis, perimenopause and menopause symptoms, while the gender-inclusive policy also allows men to access the leave, including when supporting a partner undergoing IVF.

Chief executive, Deanne Stewart, said the fund wanted to remove some of the workplace barriers associated with reproductive health. “For too long, reproductive health has been something people have had to manage quietly, often at real cost to their wellbeing and their careers,” Stewart said.

Stewart wants people to feel supported when dealing with personal health issues. This is about building a workplace where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, and where no one feels they have to choose between their health and their career.

Creating a more inclusive workplace also leads to better outcomes for Aware Super’s members. They believe that an inclusive and supportive workplace drives better experiences and outcomes for members.

The enterprise agreement extends the period the fund will continue paying super guarantee contributions during unpaid parental leave from 12 months to 24 months following a birth, adoption or supporting placement.

Existing employee benefits remain in place, including up to 20 weeks of paid pregnancy loss leave, two days of wellbeing leave each year and flexible working arrangements.

Stewart said improving workplace equity is linked to improving retirement outcomes. “Gender equity in the workplace and gender equity in retirement outcomes go hand in hand,” Stewart said.

If they want women to retire with dignity, they need to address the barriers they face throughout their working lives, and reproductive health is one of them.

Aware Super said research it co-commissioned with the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre in 2024 estimated reproductive health conditions cost the Australian economy $21.3 billion a year in lost productivity.

Commenting on the enterprise agreement, Finance Sector Union national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson said: “The FSU congratulates Aware Super for accepting the union’s proposal to expand its reproductive health leave entitlement for employees.”

Since 2021, the union has campaigned for workplace policies that help workers manage conditions such as menstruation, menopause, endometriosis and fertility treatment in a compassionate, practical and dignified way.

The union is pleased to see Aware Super joining other funds like ART, Hostplus and CBUS in offering this leave type.