Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Siewert, move:

That the Senate—

(a)   acknowledges Australia's National Breastfeeding Hotline which:

(i)   provides invaluable advice to 80,000 mums every year, and is run at an extremely modest cost to taxpayers due to the fantastic work of hundreds of volunteer counsellors who answer up to 6,000 calls every month, and

(ii)   requires long-term funding to provide certainty for this vital service for Australian mums; and

(b)   notes that:

(i)   the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding requires strategies to share maternal lactation costs more widely, such as additional help with caring for children, enhanced leave and workplace lactation breaks, and suitable child care, and

(ii)   although the World Health Organization recommends babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their life, by 3 months of age, 60 per cent of Australian babies are getting some formula milk.

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Australian government recently approved continued funding to the national breastfeeding hotline for 12 months from 1 July 2016 and continues to have discussions with the Australian Breastfeeding Association regarding longer term funding. There is very strong evidence that breastfeeding gives babies the best start in life and provides lasting health benefits. It also helps mothers recover faster from pregnancy and reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancers later in life.

The toll-free 24-hour telephone helpline provides breastfeeding information and peer support for mothers and their families. This can be especially important for women and babies in rural and regional Australia, who can get the information and advice they need without travelling long distances. Australia's dietary guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding of infants until six months of age, with introduction of solid foods at around six months and continued breastfeeding until the age of 12 months and beyond if both mother and infant wish.

Question agreed to.