Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Jagajaga for her question, because she has long been an advocate of extending paid parental leave, and I am so pleased that the Albanese government is delivering the biggest expansion to paid parental leave since Labor introduced it in 2011. By increasing the amount of government paid leave to six months by 2026 we are providing responsible cost-of-living relief to more Australian families. Our investment supports both parents to take more paid time out of work to care for their children, taking pressure off household budgets. Not only will it help families to better balance work and care; it will also support participation and productivity, providing an economic dividend to the Australian economy.

I am pleased that our changes have been widely welcomed across family groups, gender advocacy groups, employers and unions alike. The ACTU said that the increase to 26 weeks is 'a great step forward for Australian parents, particularly working women'. Jennifer Westacott, from the Business Council of Australia, said that the expansion 'doesn't just help make a fairer society; it's also a major economic reform that will help raise workforce participation and boost productivity'. The Parenthood said that this is 'a significant improvement' after 'no meaningful change to the policy' over the last decade. Minderoo's Thrive by Five Foundation said the government's changes 'will benefit parents, infants, employers, employees and the Australian economy'. And Sam Mostyn, President of Chief Executive Women, welcomed this much-needed expansion.

Our changes are pretty significant. They make our paid parental leave more modern and more flexible, and, of course, they extend it. One of the key changes means that all parents can access government paid leave at the same time as their employer paid leave. Under the current scheme, this is not available to recipients of dad and partner pay. The reason for this is that members on this side of the House want to encourage families to get the support they need from both government and their employers, and I hope that those opposite will support all changes to our paid parental leave, all elements including this one.

Of course, it wasn't long ago that those opposite, when they were in government, accused mothers who wanted to take both government leave and their employer leave of being frauds, of being double-dippers, telling those women they were rorters. This was a terrible attitude to take to Australian families. This side of the House takes it seriously. We seriously want to support families at the time of having their newborn baby.

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