Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

():  In a few weeks I am due to welcome a new baby into this world. To be a mother is something I am deeply thankful for. Preparing for the birth of a baby brings a profound sense of both privilege and responsibility; a new life, a new human story, is about to begin with you, for better or worse. Mothers desperately want to give their babies the very best start—the best foundation—that they can for that life.

As an expectant mother, I am thankful to have a supportive and loving partner and family around me, to have a secure roof over my head and not to worry about where our next meal will come from or about providing the things I need for this baby or my other children. Bu the reality is that, for so many mothers in our community, this is not the case. Karinya House is an inspiring Canberra organisation that believes no woman should navigate parenting alone. For over 27 years they have provided safety, accommodation, support and community to thousands of women impacted by violence, homelessness and disadvantage while pregnant or parenting. They are a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service and the only service of their kind specifically for pregnant women, their babies and young children in our region.

I want to begin by acknowledging the work of their CEO, Lavinia Tyrrel, and their whole team, including the volunteers who create this peaceful home, as Karinya is for the women there and their families. This September they will hold a major new fundraising initiative, the Walk for Hope, with all funds raised going to Karinya House to directly support pregnant and parenting women in crisis. I am proud to have signed up as a community champion for the walk, and I encourage anyone who is able to do so to support this wonderful organisation. I want to acknowledge the other around 20 champions—there are too many to name—and their generous commitments. It's an honour to join them. The walk will be held on 14 September and is open to our entire community. The aim of the Walk for Hope is not just to raise the much-needed money for Karinya House's vital work but also to walk alongside pregnant women and new mothers as a community. Many will be walking with weighted vests to represent the weight of a pregnancy—I won't be doing that!

We often use the phrase these days, 'It takes a village,' and this is about putting meaning to that. As Karinya's CEO, Lavinia Tyrrel, has said:

…there's no place for disadvantage for children, pregnant women and women raising children in Canberra.

I hope this is a statement that we can all agree with, for women not only here in Canberra but all around our country. Karinya House faces a waiting list of women needing support. It is important we focus not just on supporting incredibly important work like what they do but also help prevent women from facing violence, poverty and disadvantage in the first place. I, like many in this place, am here in parliament because I believe that government has a role in preventing poverty and disadvantage. The Albanese Labor government has focused on building an inclusive Australia where no-one is left behind or held back. I am proud of our commitment to ending violence against women and children in a generation and of the extensive and multifaceted policies we are pursuing to support that. I am particularly proud that we restored single parenting payments to sole parents up until their child is 14, and I am proud of the substantial increases to rent assistance we have delivered.

Currently, however, the key payment for a single woman who is unemployed and not yet a mother—including if she is pregnant—is the JobSeeker payment, which is currently around $390 per week. If the recipient is under 21, they receive the lower youth allowance, which is currently around $332 per week. I note that a single person paying $75 per week in rent will be eligible for rent assistance up to a maximum of $106 per week but only where their weekly rent is $216 or more. Finding or maintaining a job while pregnant can obviously be challenging, especially when someone is also dealing with other complex circumstances, like family and domestic violence. I think it is easy to see how homelessness becomes a real possibility for someone trying to survive on that income. I think if we as a society agree that there is no place for disadvantage for pregnant women and newborn babies—that there is more that we can do to make sure these women don't fall into poverty and homelessness—I know many in my community would support this.

House adjourned at 20:00

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