Advocates push the envelope on paid parental leave before Senate inquiry

Advocates for parents and families appeared before a Senate Committee Inquiry on Monday, urging the government to lift its ambition on paid parental leave and look at extending it to 52 weeks by 2030.

Parents at Work CEO Emma Walsh told the inquiry that paid parental leave should be increased to 26 weeks in the next year (rather than by 2026 as slated by the government), and pushed for a pathway to extend it to 52 weeks by 2030, with up to 12 weeks designated to each parent.

Walsh noted the government’s Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022 is a step in the right direction but should go further to become world-leading.

“OECD research has shown Australia’s paid parental leave measures trail behind comparable nations,” Walsh said. “The Bill is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough if Australia is going to meet its gender equality targets and shift the gendered norms that see women expected to take on the lion’s share of caring duties in the workplace and at home.”

Walsh also called for access to paid parental leave to be accessible during the first 5 years of a child’s life, to enable parents greater flexibility around when they take the leave.

CEO of The Parenthood Georgie Dent also fronted the inquiry, speaking about the need to introduce a six-week “use it or lose it” provision for fathers in the government’s proposed 26-week scheme. Dent also pushed for an increase of paid leave of up to 52 weeks shared equally between parents, consideration of a replacement wage rather than minimum wage, and for superannuation to be paid on parental leave.

“Australian parents receive far less paid parental leave than parents around the world and it costs children, families, our society and the economy,” she said. “Australia cannot become the best place in the world to be a parent and raise a child if we don’t seriously lift ambition on the national paid parental leave system.”

Dent also noted that a generous government paid parental leave scheme is essential in order to ensure all parents in Australia have equitable access to support after having children.

“It’s not about the individual workplace or how much money you make, it’s the fact that you’ve given birth and brought a little person into the world and you are now going to be responsible for nurturing and caring and raising that little person,” she said. “That’s the reason we need paid parental leave at all — because we need parents to be able to take on that task without the additional pressure and stress of not having any level of financial support during that period. “

“There’s no doubt that a lot of the really positive progress that’s happened in the last few years around paid parental leave has been in employers and it has been particularly pronounced around employers encouraging men to take extended leave as the norm.

“While that is fantastic, it does lead to a potential widening of inequity because we know that the larger employers that do have these fantastic policies… tend to be larger companies, tend to be full time employment where you’ve got the benefits of annual leave, sick leave. You’re already in a much more advantaged, secure position.”

"A generous and equitable paid parental leave policy enables men and women to more equitably share the care at home which in turn facilitates more participation in paid work," said @georgiedent at today's inquiry into the Paid Parental Leave Amendment Bill. #auspol pic.twitter.com/iZDJE8GnwL

— The Parenthood (@the_parenthood) February 20, 2023

The government’s current position on paid parental leave is to increase the entitlement by 2 weeks per year, until it reaches a full 26 weeks from July 2026. The government will also overhaul the income test, allowing households with incomes up to $350,000 access to the government-funded scheme.

This article was first published on Women’s Agenda.