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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Labor has a long and proud history of improving the lives of Australian families with critical, nation-building reforms.

It was Labor governments who created Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Labor governments introduced no-fault divorce, the single mothers benefit and the child support system. And it was a Labor government—the Gillard government—that introduced paid parental leave in this country.

When paid parental leave was introduced in 2011, it was a major milestone for Australian families. As the minister for families, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP said in parliament at the time: "This historic reform is a major win for working families who have been waiting decades for a national paid parental leave scheme".

For many parents, the 18-week payment—fully funded by the government—was the first time they could access any paid parental leave.

This was a material advancement in workplace and economic equality for women, whose disproportionate share of unpaid care has long-term consequences for their economic security.

Paid parental leave is critical for families; it's critical for women and it is critical for the economy. The Albanese government knows this.

We know paid parental leave is vital for the health and wellbeing of parents and their children. We know investing in paid parental leave benefits our economy.

And we know that paid parental leave can advance gender equality.

We heard these messages loud and clear at our very successful Jobs and Skills Summit, where gender equality and economic reform went hand in hand.

Businesses, unions, experts and economists all understand that one of the best ways to boost productivity and participation is to provide more choice and more support for families—and, importantly, more opportunity for women.

That is why paid parental leave reform was a centrepiece of our first budget. As the Prime Minister said at the time: "… a parental leave system that empowers the full and equal participation of women will be good for business, good for families and good for our economy."

Earlier this year, our government implemented legislation to modernise the system to reflect how Australian families and their needs have evolved over the last decade. Our changes, which commenced on 1 July, give more families access to the payment, give parents more flexibility in how they take leave, and encourage them to share care.

These important structural changes laid a strong foundation for our expansion to 26 weeks, which is the focus of this bill.

The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023 increases this scheme to six months by 2026. It implements in full our commitment from the 2022-23 budget and represents a total investment of $1.2 billion over five years.

It is a privilege to stand in this chamber and introduce a bill that delivers the largest expansion of paid parental leave since the conception of this scheme. It provides families an extra six weeks of government-paid leave, increasing the overall length of the scheme to six months by 2026. As a result of these reforms, from 2026-27 the government's total investment in PPL will be around $4.4 billion a year.

This is a significant investment that reflects our government's commitment to deliver better outcomes for families and advance economic equality for women.

The roughly 180,000 families who receive the payment each year will benefit from a more generous scheme that supports maternal health and wellbeing, encourages both parents to take leave, and gives families flexibility to choose how they share care.

Not only will this help families better balance work and care; it will also support participation and productivity over the longer term, providing a dividend for the Australian economy.

I am pleased that our reforms have been widely welcomed by family and gender advocates, and employer and unions groups, including:

Currently, a working family can access up to 20 weeks of government funded paid parental leave. To encourage shared care, two weeks are reserved for each parent on a 'use it or lose it' basis, leaving 16 weeks for parents to share however they choose.

Starting on 1 July 2024, this bill expands the scheme by two weeks each year until reaching 26 weeks—a full six months—in 2026.

By 1 July 2026, the scheme will be 26 weeks long, with four weeks reserved for each parent on a 'use it or lose it' basis. That leaves 18 weeks that parents can choose to share however they wish. For instance, a couple may decide to share leave equally and take 13 weeks each.    

Meanwhile single parents will have access to the full 26-week entitlement.

Coupled parents will also be able to take up to four weeks of PPL at the same time. Currently, parents may take up to two weeks together. Enabling parents to take parental leave together has positive effects for maternal recovery.

It provides the birth parent with extra support as they recover and is shown to reduce parenting stress.

I would like to thank the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, chaired by Sam Mostyn AO, who provided advice to the government on the optimal model for the 26-week scheme. The setting in this bill reflects the advice from that taskforce.

The bill is carefully designed to work together to strike an important balance of increasing support to families, encouraging both parents to take leave, and providing flexibility in how they structure their care arrangements.

Supporting maternal health and recovery from childbirth is an important objective of Paid Parental Leave. The bill strengthens this objective by extending the length of the scheme, which has long-term health and wellbeing benefits for children and their parents.

Another key objective of the scheme is encouraging fathers and partners to take leave, which in turn helps balance work and family life, and promotes gender equality.

International evidence is clear that when fathers take a more active role in looking after their children and participate in home life, mothers feel more supported to return to work. That is great for the family and also great for the economy.

Often both parents want to take some time off work to be with their child after birth. Nevertheless, we know not all secondary caregivers feel confident to take parental leave. Research shows that periods of leave set aside for partners, and that are not transferrable to the birth parent, encourage secondary caregivers to take that leave. It helps to normalise fathers' use of parental leave and signals that parenting is a shared and equal partnership.

When fathers take a greater caring role from the start, evidence shows that there is more even distribution of household responsibilities, which persists through a child's life.

The changes in this bill send a clear message that the government supports shared care, and we want to see that reinforced in workplaces and our communities.

Helping both parents balance caring responsibilities has significant benefits for families, businesses, the economy and gender equality. The government provides critical support through the taxpayer funded Paid Parental Leave scheme, but employers also have a key role to play.   

The government payment is a minimum entitlement designed to complement employer-provided leave.

Data collected by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows the proportion of businesses providing their own paid parental leave has increased over the last decade. In 2021-22, 62 per cent of reporting employers offered employer-funded paid parental leave. This is up from 48 per cent in 2013-14.

This positive trend demonstrates employers increasingly see themselves as having a role alongside government in providing paid parental leave. We want to see this keep growing. We want paid parental leave to continue to be recognised and celebrated as not only a great social policy but also a valuable workplace investment that returns benefits for parents, employers, and the economy.

In summary, it is critical that our Paid Parental Leave scheme supports modern Australian families—a scheme that is flexible, that's fair, that drives positive health, social and economic outcomes for both parents and children.

This bill does just this. Crucially, it gives more families access to the government payment, provides parents more flexibility in how they take leave, and encourages them to share care to support gender equality.

Paid parental leave is a proud Labor legacy, and our government will always work to strengthen it.

This bill is good for parents, good for children, good for employers and good for the economy.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.