Aware Super introduces Reproductive Health Leave

Aware Super, one of Australia's largest profit-for-member super funds, has introduced a new Reproductive Health Leave entitlement for employees, offering up to 12 days of paid leave each year to manage reproductive health conditions and related medical treatments.

The new entitlement, secured through Aware Super's recently negotiated three-year Enterprise Agreement, replaces the fund's previous 10-day Menopause Leave policy, which was only available to permanent staff. The new leave is broader in scope and open to all eligible permanent and maximum-term employees, whether full-time or part-time.

Few Australian employers offer Reproductive Health Leave, although the number is increasing.

Aware’s entitlement may be used for fertility treatment, conditions including perimenopause and menopause symptoms, and endometriosis. Importantly, the leave is gender-inclusive. While many of the conditions it covers predominantly affect women, men can also access the entitlement, including to support a partner going through IVF. 

Aware Super CEO Deanne Stewart said the policy reflected the fund's deep commitment to gender equity.

“For too long, reproductive health has been something people have had to manage quietly, often at real cost to their wellbeing and their careers,” Ms Stewart said.

“Importantly, we believe that an inclusive and supportive workplace also drives better experiences and outcomes for our 1.3 million members.”

Ms Stewart said the initiative built on Aware Super's longstanding record as a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality, a citation the fund has now held for 11 consecutive years.

As part of the fund’s broader commitments to its employees’ health, Aware Super also offers up to 20 weeks of paid leave for pregnancy loss, two days of wellbeing leave per year and access to flexible working arrangements. In the new Enterprise Agreement, the fund has also extended the period where it will pay super guarantee contributions during unpaid parental leave from 12 to 24 months following a birth, adoption or fostering placement.

“Gender equity in the workplace and gender equity in retirement outcomes go hand in hand,” Ms Stewart said. 

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

In 2024 Aware Super co-commissioned independent research by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre into the economic case for reproductive health leave. That research found lost productivity from reproductive health conditions costs the Australian economy an estimated $21.3 billion a year.