Aussie public servants offered paid leave to mourn The Voice result
Australians in favour of the Voice to Parliament have been grieving the result of Saturday's referendum.
Public servants in one Aussie state have been offered five days’ special paid leave for psychological distress stemming from the rejected Voice to Parliament referendum.
In an email circulated to Queensland government bosses, Public Sector Commissioner David Mackie said special leave - an entitlement that is usually unpaid - as well as sick leave could be offered to staff in need.
The move was made to ensure that government workplaces remained mentally well and to acknowledge the emotional impact the referendum result would have on First Nations workers in the public service following the failed referendum result.
“To help ensure this is realised, employees who are experiencing challenges with their social and emotional wellbeing at this time, such that they feel that they should not attend the workplace, should be supported in accessing appropriate leave entitlements to look after their health and wellbeing,” Mr Mackie wrote in the email seen by the Courier Mail.
The decision follows a number of Indigenous Australians calling for a “week of silence” to grieve the outcome which was overwhelmingly rejected by Australians and “reflect on its meaning and significance”.
Mr Mackie said that leaders could consider approving up to five days special leave in “exceptional circumstances in the first instance”.
“Some employees may also choose to return to country and their local communities to support each other in grieving the outcome of the referendum,” he wrote.
Some of Australia’s top banks have offered similar paid leave to recover from the referendum result. National Australia Bank (NAB) offered cultural leave and counselling to Indigenous staff. Westpac and ANZ also have ‘special leave’ for Indigenous staff to take.
Australia decisively rejected The Voice
Queensland overwhelmingly rejected an Indigenous Voice to Parliament being enshrined in the Constitution, with almost 70 per cent voting no in last Saturday’s referendum.
To pass, The Voice needed the support of at least four states and a majority of national votes.
But across the country, all six states voted against the Labor Government’s proposal with more than 60 percent of voters across Australia saying ‘No’.
Polling areas where Indigenous Australians form more than half of the population voted on average 63 percent in favour of the Voice.
Indigenous supporters of the Voice called it “a bitter irony” that “people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognise those whose home this land has been for 60,000” years.
Indigenous Australians mental wellbeing disadvantaged
In the wake of the result, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), an Indigenous-run health organisation, shared mental wellbeing resources for people experiencing “increased anxiety and depression” in the wake of the “no” vote.
According to the organisation, mental health is one area where indigenous people in Australia experience disadvantaged.
Mental health is one of many areas where Indigenous people in Australia experience disadvantage, adding to a more than seven-year difference in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
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