Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

This is an example of parliament at its best: both sides of the chamber coming together to work on a solution for a problem that in many respects has been a silent trauma for too long and something that has taken a huge emotional toll on many in our community. This bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Improving Unpaid Parental Leave for Parents of Stillborn Babies and Other Measures) Bill 2020, provides unpaid parental leave entitlements for families dealing with the trauma of stillbirths, infant deaths and premature births. The changes are long overdue and they're hard fought for, and I want to pay tribute to the many brave parents who gave evidence to the Senate committee and have campaigned for reforms such as this over previous decades. I certainly commend and support this bill.

Labor called on the government last November to change bereavement payments to ensure that all parents are treated equally, whether their child's heart beats once before death or their baby is stillborn, and we welcome the fact that the government is changing the stillborn baby payment for a second or subsequent stillbirth as well. Labor had highlighted the inconsistency that parents who had a subsequent stillborn baby were receiving a lower payment than for their first stillborn child, and the government's changes will equalise the payments for families in these tragic situations.

Parents of stillborn babies are parents, yet for years they have not received the same supports as parents whose babies died after a live birth. A mother who gives birth to a stillborn baby has to recover physically. Both parents have to recover emotionally and also attend to their parenting responsibilities, including an autopsy, a funeral, a cremation or burial, medical evaluation and counselling, including grief counselling. Access to financial support can go some way to helping those families when they need it most.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2,419 lives were lost due to stillbirth or newborn deaths in 2018, and the majority of those deaths were stillbirths. Six babies a day are stillborn in Australia, and, despite medical advancements, stillbirth rates in Australia have not changed in two decades. The rates of stillbirth and newborn death are significantly higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This is one area where we're beginning to see some more research into the causes and, hopefully, prevention where possible of stillbirths in Australia. It's one of the biggest causes of infant death in Australia, and the rate of death from stillbirth is still higher than the nation's road toll, in itself a shocking statistic.

For many parents, going back to work after experiencing stillbirth is extremely difficult. Having to go back before they're ready can be detrimental to their personal health and wellbeing and has a major impact on their productivity. Ultimately, in some circumstances, it may cost them their job, and that's an outcome that helps no-one. Research was commissioned by the Stillbirth Foundation to support this. In 2016, the PwC report commissioned by that foundation found that stillbirth cost the economy $681 million between 2016 and 2020. Further, it found that an employee who returns to work too early after a stillbirth will be prone to absenteeism and difficulty concentrating when they do get back into the workforce and, further, that mothers of stillborn babies, when returning to work early, performed at only 26 per cent of their normal rate of productivity after 30 days. We know that the grief has been made more difficult by the COVID pandemic, with family separated due to social-distancing requirements and people removed from their usual support networks. At a time when people do need support, when they're at their most vulnerable and when they're suffering such loss, we must continue to make all possible efforts to reduce the rate of stillbirths and infant loss.

The scale of this tragedy must spur Australia into a concerted effort, including support for those impacted by higher rates of pregnancy loss and infant death, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and those in remote communities. The Senate Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education produced the first national set of recommendations to drive down that stillbirth rate in Australia. The draft National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan is currently under development, and I congratulate those on that Senate committee for coming up with those important recommendations and, as I said earlier, those that gave evidence. This bill will make a significant difference to Australian families, particularly those parents and families who experience stillbirth—six families each day getting that additional support to ensure that they have the time to recover properly and to seek and get the necessary emotional support so that a return to the workplace can be done as sensitively and as productively as possible.

Labor remains committed to elevating the prominence and priority of reducing stillbirths and infant loss, as we continue to support Australian families, friends and loved ones who've endured this incomparable grief. I want to congratulate those senators that were part of the Senate select committee—particularly Senators McCarthy, Keneally and Bilyk—for the work that they did. I thank all of those organisations that have worked tirelessly to ensure that government listened to them and to get us where we are today. There's certainly more work that needs to be done to ensure that we can prevent stillbirth and save thousands of families every year the grief of those who've experienced stillbirth. Yet this bill does go some way in providing that support from government, and, importantly, it represents government listening to the appeals of those who've suffered this inconsolable loss. Lastly, I pay tribute to all the parents who've shared their sad, personal stories of stillbirth, including many MPs and senators in this place.

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