Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

indeed—and who is, in doing so, bearing a greater portion of the burden of COVID-19 lockdown. Perhaps I will make it up to her next week, but I suspect I won't manage to even the ledger appropriately.

The changes, as I've mentioned, only affect people who are working in a Commonwealth declared hot spot, but if you have been affected by lockdowns in other areas then you are not eligible for these changes and your access to the Paid Parental Leave scheme may be denied because you were stood down and the government hasn't recognised the changed circumstances. Who might that affect? It could well affect a tourism sector worker in Cairns or in Tasmania who, because there are no tourists from New South Wales, Victoria or the wonderful ACT, might find that they are stood down. This bill will give them no support. This bill will not assist those who are stood down as a result of lockdowns in other states depressing business activity. We know that's happening across the country. We know that there is a significant adverse impact on workers in non-lockdown states as a result of the lockdowns.

The government's bill is certainly a reflection of the importance of paid parental leave to many Australian families, and it illustrates the importance of parental leave in boosting gender equality. But we know that, under the coalition, Australia's international gender equity ranking has fallen and that paid parental leave in Australia is lower than the OECD average.

This bill addresses the immediate need of many Australian families who are in Commonwealth declared hotspots and who are unable to access the Paid Parental Leave scheme. Of course Labor won't stand in the way of that, but it comes late and there are gaps in its application. As a result of the way in which the bill has been drafted, it only provides certainty for those receiving a COVID-19 Australian government payment, which is defined as 'the COVID-19 disaster payment and another payment prescribed in the paid parental leave rules'. The prescription in the paid parental leave rules will be at the discretion of the minister. Parents receiving other forms of pandemic financial support must now rely on the minister to include them in the definition. Without that, if they're not appropriately included, they may not meet the work test rules. Labor will be closely watching the government's implementation of the bill to ensure these other eligible parents aren't left behind.

We will also be relying on the minister to positively respond to Labor's detailed amendment that I will be moving in the consideration-in-detail stage. That amendment would ensure that people who would otherwise be eligible for paid parental leave but are dealing with or fleeing from family and domestic violence are not ineligible because they don't meet the paid parental leave rules work test. Such an amendment would reflect the broad concern, of course shared across the House, about those who are at risk of family and domestic violence. It is my understanding that the government is considering whether or not it will support those amendments. Naturally, we will withdraw those detailed amendments if we're given a guarantee that the government will move them itself.

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