Reproductive leave could be a ‘gamechanger’ for Australian workers – how would it work?

‘Reproductive leave is about fairness, dignity, and economic sense,’ the Health Services Union’s Kate Marshall says. Composite: Guardian Design/Alamy/Getty Images

Giving all Australian workers 12 days of leave for reproductive health matters like menstrual pain, menopause, IVF and vasectomies would be vastly cheaper for everyone than maintaining the status quo, new research has found.

In analysis commissioned by the Health Services Union, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre found it would cost an estimated $920m annually to make 12 days of reproductive leave a universal employee entitlement but it costs approximately $26.55bn every year without it – making the cost of not giving workers reproductive leave entitlements nearly 30 times more expensive.