House debates

Monday, 9 November 2020

Bills

Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures) Bill 2020; Second Reading

12:39 pm

Photo of Julian SimmondsJulian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the amendments contained in the substantive bill, Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents Of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures) Bill 2020, today. They will better support parents who experience the absolute tragedy that is stillbirth and infant death. Heartbreakingly, as the previous member pointed out, six babies are stillborn every day in Australia, making it the most common form of child mortality. I cannot even begin, as most members in this place, to imagine the profound pain that parents and families experience at the loss of a child through stillbirth and infant death. I want to start my remarks this morning by extending my support and comfort, whatever we can provide, to every couple and family in their own electorate who has gone through this kind of tragedy and is working through that grief.

Parents affected by these tragedies must be supported in every single way that we can, with bereavement payments in particular to take time off to grieve and to be with their loved ones. This is such an important part of what is an incredibly difficult process. I cannot speak from personal experience in this regard, as other MPs have, but I have spoken previously in the House about my journey and my wife's journey when it came to fertility, what was involved in that and the grief that was involved in that. Too often couples do just try and push through and not talk about it, to simply continue on. If there is a reflection that you could make, it would be that it is important for couples and families to step back and take some time to deal with these things together as a family and to process through what is a very, very natural feeling of grief when these things occur.

It is incumbent on all of us in this place, and certainly incumbent on the government, to commit all they can to support parents going through that process. It is why, following the recommendations of the Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education, the government is now going to establish the National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan. They've called on government agencies, advocacy groups and members of the public to submit their recommendations and personal experiences to help formulate this plan and to better support parents in the future. I look forward, as I'm sure other members of the chamber do, to being a part of the process that shapes that National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan for Australian families.

The Fair Work Act 2009, which we're looking to amend with this bill today, does not go far enough to support families who experience stillbirth and infant death. The unpaid parental leave entitlements in this situation are unclear and rigid at a time of absolute extreme grief and heartbreak, when they need to be focused on themselves and their family. The current framework simply adds further stress to parents. The amendments contained in this bill will guarantee 12 months of unpaid leave for all eligible new parents, including those who have experienced stillbirth and infant death. Under the current legislation, parents of children who are stillborn or who died during the first 24 months of life can be directed by their employers to return to work from unpaid parental leave early, with just six weeks notice, or employers can completely cancel any upcoming parental leave that they had planned. Most employers are doing the right thing, and I want to recognise that in this place, but I think that although most employers would be doing the right thing, it's very important for these families to know that they have that certainty there so that they're not worrying about this when they're going through a particularly difficult time and so that they don't feel the need to have to negotiate with an employer at a time when their mind is clearly elsewhere. They will know that it is simply there as a requirement.

You cannot—and I'm sure all members of this House would find it unacceptable—force parents who have not yet come to terms with their grief when something like this happens back into the workplace. Their mental health, their relationships and their overall wellbeing must be put first, and this government puts them first. The amendments contained in this substantive bill will remove the ability for employers to issue such directions, compelling them back to work in that 12-month period completely. It will ensure the parents of stillborn babies have access to the same unpaid parental leave entitlement as any other parent. Treating them on that same level is very, very important to them. Additionally, parents on unpaid parental leave who go through stillbirth or infant death will have access to compassionate leave following this horrific experience.

Further amendments contained in this bill—and I think this is particularly important—will permit flexible arrangements to be made between parents and their employers if their child is immediately hospitalised following birth. These arrangements will allow an employee to pause their unpaid parental leave so that they can go back to work, if they choose to do so, while their child is in hospital. Then of course they can resume their unpaid parental leave when their baby goes home. Why is this important? It's because of the practicalities of situations like this. I can only imagine the pain of having your child hospitalised so soon after birth for an extended period of time. But the reality of this kind of situation that families find themselves in is that you have not only the horrible situation of your child being in hospital, and the stress that comes with that, but also the added financial pressure of hospital fees and other costs that can add to and compound this situation. This is simply about flexibility. Some parents want to continue their leave, and that leave will enable them to be with their child full time in the hospital. But other parents will make the choice to use this flexibility to earn an income while their child receives treatment in hospital. There is no right or wrong way to deal with a situation where your child is in hospital for an extended period of time, and families have to be enabled to make the choice that best fits their family. At the end of the day, the people who know their family and their family's situation the best are those families, not the government, and it's not up to us to constrain their options. We should be making this as flexible and as stress-free as possible.

As I've said, many workplaces go above and beyond to support their employees who experience stillbirth and infant death. In acknowledging them, I want to encourage those employers who offer leave and entitlements that go beyond this minimum safety net to continue to provide the support which is so, so important to Australian families.

The amendments of the Fair Work Act in this substantive bill work together with the amendments to the social services legislation that I've spoken about previously in the House, and those amendments will remove the discrepancy in the rates of stillborn baby payments for first and subsequent stillborn children and align the stillborn baby payment with the rates payable to families who experience an infant death. Changing these payments is important. Of course we recognise that all the money in the world, frankly, could not numb the pain of this horrible experience. But at least the leave payments, combined with the guaranteed unpaid leave in these amendments, give families the opportunity to take the time to grieve and process their loss together and to work on their relationships coming out of it.

This package of bills—this one and the payments one—is a very important improvement to how we deal with and, more importantly, how we support families who experience stillbirth or early infant loss. It is so important to the families of Australia. I know, because I've had many, many conversations with him about it, that the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, is personally dedicated to extending and enhancing support for parents who experience this kind of tragedy, and his work and Minister Ruston's work have been important in bringing these bills to fruition, so I really want to commend them for that work.

I obviously commend the amendments contained in this substantive bill to the House. I know they will assist families and parents in the Ryan electorate who experience the heartbreak of stillbirth and infant death. I want them to know that we support them and we care for them, and that, as a member of the government—as I'm sure other members in this House will say as well—I won't stop fighting to ensure that they have even more support and as much support as we can possibly provide to these families.

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