Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Continuing on from last night, the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025 introduces a new principle into the Fair Work Act that employer funded paid parental leave must not be cancelled because a child is stillborn or a newborn dies. It will ensure that parents who suffer the heartbreak of a stillbirth or neonatal death, as Priya's parents did, can still access employer funded paid parental leave. Labor is doing what is right. We're looking after parents at a time that is so difficult for them.

The government has acted to safeguard these entitlements in the bill, and this bill will provide clarity for employers as well as grieving parents about their entitlements. This clarity will also benefit workplaces by helping retain and attract staff. Employees do not have to provide paid parental leave; however, the legal position is unclear in workplaces where paid parental leave is provided but there are no explicit entitlements addressing what will happen if a child is stillborn or dies. This isn't fair on employers, but, importantly, it is not fair on grieving parents. The bill will preserve employer funded paid parental leave entitlements in circumstances where it is not obvious on the face of the agreement what entitlements parents will receive if their child is stillborn or dies. The bill provides that an employer must not, because of a stillbirth or death, refuse to allow an employee to take employer paid parental leave to which they would have been entitled, or cancel any part of that leave.

This legislation, though, will not override the freedom of employers and employees to agree on their own paid parental leave policies, allowing bargaining above the safety net provided by the law. The bill also prevents an employer from seeking to avoid the new prohibition against refusal or cancellation of employer paid parental leave by unilaterally varying an employee's terms and conditions after the bill's commencement, such as by amending a workplace policy. In addition, the government does not intend to interfere with the specific entitlements that employees have negotiated which deal with stillbirth or death of a child, and this bill will not stop employers and employees bargaining in good faith. The ability to bargain over entitlements above and beyond the national employment standards, such as for employer funded paid parental leave, is central to our approach to workplace relations.

This bill has received support from across the board. We've had a number of fellow parliamentarians talk about this and share their experiences. I'd like to share a couple of quotes with you. The chairperson of Red Nose Australia, Nick Xerakias, said:

You cannot make parents feel better after a stillbirth or neonatal loss … But you can absolutely make it worse, and cancelling paid maternity leave is one of the ways that happens.

The ASU secretary for New South Wales and ACT, Angus McFarland, said:

Parents deserve compassion and support during a time of unimaginable grief. No parent mourning the loss of a child should be forced back to work early or face financial strain.

I urge those opposite to support the passing of this bill, because it is the right thing to do.

The Albanese Labor government has always expanded and improved our paid parental leave system, and I highlighted earlier in my speech yesterday the long list of achievements that continue to benefit parents and their children today, but the work has continued to deliver with this bill. In addition, from 1 July this year we saw the Albanese Labor government reforms to paid parental leave rolling out, giving around 180 families a year more flexibility and support at one of the most important times of our lives. We also increased the amount of paid parental leave available to families, increasing to 24 weeks, giving parents an extra two weeks to spend with their newest family number. The amount of paid parental leave parents can take off at the same time will also increase from two weeks to four weeks. As a mum, I would absolutely appreciate that. Thanks to the government reforms, paid parental leave will continue to expand to 26 weeks by 1 July next year, and this means parents are able to spend more time with their family and more time caring for their newborn.

With the changes to super, the government is also taking huge steps to close the gender gap in retirement income. We know that women are disproportionally impacted in retirement, and they retire with less super in their bank accounts. Parents are already benefiting from the superannuation now also being paid on government paid parental leave. The 12 per cent contribution, based on the increase in the superannuation guarantee that started from 1 July, is now being paid. Parents will also benefit from an increase in the weekly payment rate of paid parental leave, and this equates to around $775 over the 24-week entitlement.

Under the Albanese Labor government we are ensuring we continue to back parents and families, not just in my electorate but across the community, and, importantly, with this bill we are doing this in a way that is a more caring, empathetic and compassionate way of looking after people and our communities.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, nobody can argue against or understand the grief a person can feel having a stillborn child. We are aware of so many people who have had miscarriages, aware of the concern they cause, and aware of the grief and sorrow that people carry for the rest of their lives. I wholly agree with in how the substance expressed in this chamber has been put forward but of course there is always a caveat that those of us here want to check. A number of us feel we do not we have a clear answer on this, so, unfortunately—I hate to bring it up—there remains the issue of late-term abortion. We have a right to know if it includes that, because we have a right to express our views if it does. We have concerns because, in a letter by Minister Gallagher, it appeared that late-term abortions were encompassed in this. During estimates Minister McAllister appeared to confirm the same, and that takes it into a completely different remit. We understand and respect people have different views but there are many of us who have spent much of our time in parliament making sure our views are incredibly clear on this issue.

We understand there are so many complexities, but I stand on the position that the day after a child is born, no matter what medical conditions or impairments that may be there, you have no right to interfere in their life. Therefore, the day before we believe it is the same. That is something I have lived by, and I think it is incredibly important for me to state my position on this. There must be a clarification on this issue. It must be clarified before we come to a vote. It must be from the minister before the bill is voted for and, either way, there must be honesty in exactly what the position is. I think we have the right to know where we vote and how we vote. On one instance, there is 100 per cent support, 100 per cent empathy, we completely understand—no questions about it. But on the extension of it, if that is where it goes, we have every right not to vote for it and we have every right to be informed of it. We have every right for people to be completely clear about this and exactly where it is.

Obviously, these debates at times can be most divisive and heated. I accept that. But the substance of this is just how you view the rights of the individual. We believe that a person, if they are not cognisant of their rights, does not give anybody a licence to extinguish their rights, because you are not cognisant of your rights when you are asleep, you are not cognisant of your rights if you are under a general anaesthetic and you're not cognisant of your rights probably below the age of two. But you have those rights and those rights stand.

As we know, we can have people born at 22 or 23 weeks and these people survive. We believe—others don't—we have a duty of care to stand in this parliament and stand up for those rights. It might be a very small portion, and I acknowledge that. It is not the generality and it might not even be what is intended for, but this clarification must happen. If people clarify that that is not the case—that it does not include late-term abortion—that is fine. But if it does, and it is not stated and has not been made clear then that means you are hiding it. People hide things because they believe that there are circumstances where people have a substantially different view and they do not want them to know about it. So I pose the question here. Does this proscribe, which means rule out, late-term abortions or not?

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about something that no parent ever wants to imagine: the loss of a child. When that happens, no-one should be faced with questions about their pay or their leave on top of their heartbreak. Parents deserve compassion, certainty and time to grieve, not confusion about their rights at work. That's why the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025, known as Baby Priya's bill, is so important. It's about making sure that, in those unimaginable moments, parents are treated with dignity and fairness and that they don't lose their paid parental leave just because they've lost their child. This bill delivers on an election commitment made by the Albanese Labor government, a commitment to build a fairer, kinder, more caring Australia, where families are supported when they need it most.

This bill is named after Baby Priya, who died when she was just six weeks old. I want to begin by acknowledging Priya's mum and dad. I want to thank them for their courage, their compassion and their determination to make sure that no other parent goes through what they did. Their advocacy has turned tragedy into reform, and today their daughter's legacy is a part of the legislation that will help protect thousands of families in the future. They have ensured that their little girl's life will continue to make a difference and that her story will forever be a part of our kinder, fairer Australia.

Parents should have the time to grieve the loss of a child. Their pain should not be compounded by the fear of losing income or being forced to return to work while still recovering, not only from the immense grief and trauma but from childbirth itself and the physical toll that that takes. They deserve clarity—clarity about their entitlements, about their financial situation and about their right to take their time to heal. Baby Priya's parents weren't afforded that dignity, and no parent should ever have to go through what they went through. We also know that they are incredibly difficult situations for both the managers and their colleagues to navigate. No-one should have to make discretionary calls on something so delicate and so devastating.

This bill provides clarity for parents, for employers and for the whole workplace. It sets out shared expectations so that these moments can be handled with dignity and compassion. This bill introduces a new principle into the Fair Work Act. Unless employers and employees have especially agreed otherwise, employer-funded paid parental leave must not be refused or cancelled because of the loss of a child that either is stillborn or dies early in infancy. That means parents can rely on their paid parental leave entitlements operating as they would have expected, regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy or birth.

The bill aligns with the clarity already provided in existing unpaid parental leave entitlements, ensuring consistency across the workplace relations framework. Importantly, it doesn't interfere with bargaining in good-faith agreements. The ability to bargain for pay and conditions above the safety net remains central to our approach to workplace relations. It leads to mutually beneficial conditions for both employers and employees, and it builds trust and dialogue in workplaces. This bill will not affect agreements that already clearly set out what happens if a child is stillborn or dies, including workplaces that offer dedicated stillbirth leave. Instead, it encourages employers and employees to continue negotiating clear, compassionate policies that respond to these heartbreaking moments.

This bill strikes a careful balance. It will not require employers to offer paid parental leave if they do not already do so, but, where paid leave is offered, it ensures that it can't be taken away because of tragedy unless both parties have clearly agreed otherwise. That's the type of fairness that this Labor government has made a cornerstone of our legislative agenda. Employers have told us they will welcome this clarity. Many workplace representatives have already reached out to express support for this reform, recognising that it helps both employees and managers deal with these circumstances sensitively and consistently. The bill also stops bad actors from undermining reform by unilaterally changing workplace policies after it commences. This is about making sure the law reflects decency and a compassion that can't be taken away by the stroke of a pen.

This bill sits within the broader suite of Labor's reforms to strengthen and modernise Australia's paid parental leave system, a system that for too long has left too many families behind. When the Albanese Labor government came to office, we made a promise to make it easier for families to balance work and care and to ensure that every child gets the best start in life. We are delivering on that promise. We're expanding the government funded Paid Parental Leave scheme to 26 weeks by 2026—the biggest expansion since the scheme began. We have made it more flexible, so that parents can share leave in a way that suits their family. And, for the first time, superannuation contributions will be paid on government funded paid parental leave, recognising that time spent caring for a baby should not come at the cost of a woman's retirement savings.

We know these reforms will help strengthen the connection between parents, particularly women, and the workforce. As the former CEO of the Parenthood, I saw firsthand how much difference connection makes. I worked alongside parents from all walks of life—shift workers, teachers, nurses, small business owners—all trying to balance the joy and chaos of raising children with the need to earn a living and stay connected to the workplace. I saw how vital it is to have a government that doesn't just talk about valuing care work but actually does something about it. Paid Parental Leave is a core foundation of our workplace relations system. It's an investment in our families, our workforce and our future. As a mum, I know in my bones how crucial that time is—those early weeks and months when you're finding your feet, learning how to keep a tiny human alive and discovering the kind of parent you want to be. It's exhausting, it's beautiful, and it's life changing.

For families who lose a child, that time becomes something even more precious—a time to grieve, to recover and to honour the life that was so short but so loved. That's why this bill matters so deeply. Australia is one of the safest countries in the world to give birth in, but tragically stillbirths and infant deaths still happen. On an average day in Australia, six babies are stillborn, and two die within their first year of life. In 2022 alone, that meant 3,000 families lost a child. Behind every one of those numbers is a story, a family, a life, a name and a home left quiet. Behind every one of those stories is a grief that last a lifetime.

This bill addresses a small but significant gap that sadly some of those parents have fallen through. It ensures that, when tragedy strikes, the law doesn't turn away; it has your back. It ensures that compassion is built into our workplace relations system. This bill provides certainty for everyone, as I said—for workers and employers. Managers should never be placed in a position of having to make ad hoc decisions about something as sensitive as the death of a child. This reform that means there's a clear rule, applied fairly and consistent. It also prevents employers from varying terms or policies after the bill comes into force to avoid these obligations. It's about consistency, compassion and confidence—principles that should define every Australian web base.

The bill brings employer funded paid parental leave into alignment with the clarity already found in our unpaid parental leave and the government's Paid Parental Leave scheme. It uses existing definitions under the Fair Work Act, such as 'child' and 'stillborn child', to ensure the law operates consistently and clearly. It also extends coverage to adoption and surrogacy arrangements, ensuring that all families, however they are formed, are treated equally, because the grief and pain of losing a child does not discriminate, and it does not diminish because of how you become a parent. To support compliance, penalties for breaches mirror those that already apply for unpaid parental leave.

In short, this bill doesn't create a new bureaucracy; it strengthens the fairness where it was missing. This reform embodies Labor values: it's practical, passionate and grounded in fairness. It recognises that workplaces are not just a productivity; they're about people—people who love, who lose, who grieve and who deserved to be treated with dignity and every stage of life. It also reflects the power of advocacy from Priya's parents, from community and advocacy groups and from the union movement, which, for decades, has fought for Paid Parental Leave and compassionate workplace standards.

Unions have been at the forefront of this struggle for generations, campaigning for parental leave, for carers' rights, for fair pay and for the right to grieve without fear of losing your job. This bill stands firmly in that tradition and is a continuation of the Labor movement's long fight to make work fairer, kinder and more human. In communities across Australia we know that parents who lose a child face unimaginable grief. The world seems to stop, but the bills don't. Bodies are still recovering from childbirth even as hearts are breaking and the last thing families should have to worry about is whether their leave entitlements will be honoured. As a mum, I can't even begin to imagine their pain. As a representative, I can do my part to make sure the law doesn't add to it, and that's exactly what this bill seeks to ensure. It ensures that employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled or refused because of tragedy. It ensures that parents can take time to grieve, heal and recover without uncertainty, without confusion and without fear.

To Priya's mum and dad: thank you again for your courage. You have turned heartbreak into hope and you have helped build a fairer system for thousands of families. And to Baby Priya: your name will now forever be part of our nation's laws—a legacy of love and compassion that will outlast us all. This is what Labor governments do. We fix what's unfair, we stand for working people and we deliver reforms that make life fairer and futures more secure. I commend the bill.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Baby Priya's bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025, does two things I absolutely support and one thing I can't. The bill updates the Fair Work Act to treat a natural stillbirth and a baby who dies shortly after birth in the same—so as to enable paid parental leave to apply without the ability of an employer to seek to avoid that obligation owing to the nature of those unfortunate circumstances. I want to be really clear. I think that is what is intended in this bill, I think that's what's intended by Baby Priya's law and that is what I absolutely support so fulsomely that I can't even put it into words.

I commend the previous speaker for her contribution about how difficult it must be to live through those kinds of traumas—every support for a family dealing with that kind of tragedy. So often with my own children I think, in this role, about how lucky I've been as I meet children—I'm sure, Deputy Speaker, you've had this experience as well—who are challenged in life because of health or circumstances. You can't help but think about how lucky you have been and how, in life, you have perhaps won the lottery of life as you are empathising with those constituents, acting on their behalf and supporting them.

But I did say there are two things this bill does that I support and congratulate the government for adopting and one thing it does that I can't support. I can only hope and think that this is an unintended consequence that hasn't perhaps been thought through. As I read the act and as legal experts have read the act and have confirmed with me, it would effectively treat an intentionally late-term aborted child in the same way as it would a natural stillbirth or a baby who dies shortly after birth. That is something I can't support.

Perhaps it's an unintended consequence because some of the jurisdictions around our country have adopted late-term abortion legislation and not everyone in the community is cognisant of that. But, in my own state of South Australia—I'm certainly no expert on other jurisdictions, although I've spoken to colleagues who confirm that, in some other jurisdictions, the laws are even more liberal than in our own home state, Deputy Speaker. In my home state a late-term abortion up to birth is now lawful. I can see my friend opposite quizzing that. I'm happy to share that information with you. It's as shocking a concept to me as it perhaps is to those—

No, I wasn't talking about you, Member for Dickson; I was talking about my friend opposite. I wish it weren't the case, but it is. Perhaps this law has been framed in a way without having that background. The following probably indicates that it is not an unintended consequence, because, recently, in correspondence from Minister Gallagher's office and, subsequently, in Senate estimates, courtesy of Labor minister Jenny McAllister, we've had it confirmed that the stillborn baby payment—a payment made by the Commonwealth department to families who have suffered a stillborn tragedy—is payable to individuals who have taken the decision to terminate a pregnancy late in the term, as is Commonwealth paid parental leave, up to $22,000.

Apologies to the chamber, but I can't avoid making this statement. Not everyone understands, but I need to clarify that abortions that are undertaken in the third trimester effectively require a stillbirth to take place. You can, as I have, speak to medical experts and become aware of that. Quite obviously the definition is that a payment is made in the event of a stillbirth. And, if a birth has to take place in the third trimester, then, of course, the payment is made. What our nation needs—and I'm not proposing to do it via this bill, because, as I said, I support the substantive elements of this bill, not the unintended consequence—is a definition of what 'stillborn' means, and stillborn must exclude the intentional decision to undertake an abortion. If that were the case, I wouldn't be speaking. The bill would have my support, because the Fair Work Act would simply be saying, 'In the event of a stillbirth, as defined, excluding late-term abortion,' then, of course, an employer can't seek to renegotiate leave for a family dealing with that grief. As I have said, we need to ensure that we're very clear about this. I would prefer a world in which those Commonwealth payments aren't made either, and that definition of stillborn would deal with that as well.

These are uncomfortable discussions and debates, but I want to be very clear and I want to end where I started. I completely support Baby Priya's bill as it relates to a baby that passes away shortly after birth or, indeed, in the event of a stillborn child, as we would ordinarily define that to be. I hope very much that those opposite accept that what I'm talking about is an unintended consequence and that, in the fullness of time, we can work towards excluding paid parental leave. I think it's clear in the title 'paid parental leave' that it should be available to parents and that it should be available to people who had wished to become parents but for the grace of God have not become parents through an incident or outcome, but it shouldn't be available to people who don't wish to become parents. I hope that in the fullness of time we will be able to clarify this for the parliament, the people, the bureaucracy and business—those who will ultimately administer Baby Priya's bill.

Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just want to note for the member for Barker that, if you're not going to take up the full time that you're allowed to speak, my understanding of the law relates to severe foetal abnormalities incompatible with life or serious threats to a pregnant woman's health and life.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Calwell has the call.

Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And, if you're going to bring in other issues, Member for Barker, extend to your full time to explain yourself.

I rise to speak in support of the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025, a bill that reminds us that the law is not only about contracts and clauses but about compassion and conscience—about people; about Baby Priya and her family and families right across Australia. This legislation ensures that parents who endure the unthinkable, the death of their child, are not asked to return to work while they are still shattered by grief. It closes a cruel gap in our workplace laws and places humanity at the centre of our fair work system, a fundamental principle of the Albanese Labor government.

In June of last year, a baby girl named Priya was born just shy of 25 weeks. She was a tiny figure in a humidicrib, her parents, by her side, suspended between fear and hope. Her mother has since shared her story with immense courage. She said:

I used to call her my 'fighter girl' and my 'super girl' when she was in the NICU, encouraging her through every challenge she faced and overcame, until she couldn't anymore.

Priya lived for 42 days. Ten days after losing Priya, her mother—a loyal employee of 11 years—received a text message from work. It said her preapproved paid parental leave was being cancelled. Priya's mother asked if she could have, in her words, 'at least six weeks leave, for the time she was alive'. She received no response. Her partner, a teacher in the New South Wales public system, retained his full parental leave. Government paid leave is protected; private sector leave was not.

That cruel contrast, between two parents grieving the same child yet treated differently by two systems, laid bare an injustice no fair minded Australian could accept. So, in the depths of their grief, Priya's parents began to campaign. They launched a petition in March, calling on the government to make it illegal for employers to cancel paid maternity leave following infant death or stillbirth. They turned to their union, the Australian Services Union, for help. ASU secretary Angus McFarland said:

Parents deserve compassion and support during a time of unimaginable grief. No parent mourning the loss of a child should be forced back to work early or face financial strain.

Their campaign gained momentum. In mid-April, the then workplace relations minister announced that the government would move to close the loophole. Labor made an election commitment to protect grieving parents' entitlements.

This bill inserts a simple but profound principle into the Fair Work Act. Unless an employer and an employee have expressly agreed otherwise, employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled because a child is stillborn or dies. It brings employer funded leave into line with government funded and unpaid leave entitlements. It ensures that parents like Priya's mum and dad have time to grieve, to heal and to rebuild without the indignity of having to bargain for compassion. It provides clarity for employers too, removing uncertainty and ensuring consistent practice across workplaces.

The amendment applies to parents who experience stillbirth or early infant loss and have workplace arrangements for parental leave in place, aligning private employer schemes with the protections already embedded for government funded leave. It preserves flexibility without imposing new obligations on employers who do not already provide paid leave and without overriding enterprise agreements or bargained entitlements. It simply sets a national standard that compassion is not optional.

Every year, around 3,000 families in Australia lose a child to stillbirth or within 28 days of life—roughly one every three hours. Behind each number is a story of love, loss and longing. In her own words, Priya's mother said:

It seems unfathomable in Australia, in 2025, that this is even possible. And yet, here we are.

Later she said:

My baby's name means 'Beloved' in Sanskrit.

I was her mother for 42 days, and I am STILL her mother. It is in her name, as Priya's mother, that I will ensure no other Australian grieving a stillbirth, or infant death, has her paid Maternity Leave cancelled by her employer.

That is the voice that moved our government and this parliament.

In April the Albanese Labor government made a clear commitment to close this loophole. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations has been steadfast in ensuring that compassion is built into the law. She said, and I quote:

Parents should not have to deal with uncertainty about their employer-funded paid parental leave entitlements on top of their grief.

It is important that parents don't find themselves having to negotiate with their employers over their leave arrangements at such a difficult moment.

She's right, because no parent should ever have to open a text message cancelling their leave while they plan funerals. This bill makes sure they never will.

As a new father myself, I can hardly imagine the heartbreak that Priya's parents have lived through. When my son, Noah, was born earlier this year, in the NICU ward, I would watch him sleep, counting his breaths, filled with awe and fear in equal measure. Becoming a parent changes how you see everything. It makes you understand what it truly means to love without condition. That is why this story cuts so deeply, because every parent can picture that crib, that hospital room and that NICU ward.

This bill is not an abstraction. It's a moral necessity. At its core, this reform is also about our principle, the Labor principle, of dignity at work. It aligns with Labor's long tradition of ensuring that the Fair Work system reflects who we are as a society. Paid parental leave was a Labor reform. Superannuation on paid parental leave, a Labor reform. And now, Baby Priya's law, a Labor reform, continuing in that tradition.

Being an employer is about more than managing rosters and budgets. It's about recognising the humanity of your workforce, of the people who work for you. As Emma Walsh, CEO of Parents at Work, said:

Australia has a patchwork of paid parental leave policies. Not all employers offer paid parental leave and they're not required to by law, which leaves parents solely reliant on workplace discretion.

She also noted that Australia's scheme remains among the least generous in the OECD, reminding us why a national floor for compassion matters. She's right when she says:

Embedding compassion through major life events into workplace culture benefits everyone. Supporting parents through every stage—from fertility and pregnancy to childbirth, loss and the return to work—isn't just the right thing to do, it's vital for building thriving, sustainable workplaces.

Good employers already do this. This bill makes that decency the national standard. This reform also shines a light on how we treat loss in Australia. Disparities persist between public and private sectors and across states and regions. Government funded leave includes premature birth leave, giving parents additional time from birth to 37 weeks gestation so that they don't exhaust their entitlements before bringing their baby home. Many private policies don't.

The Pink Elephants Support Network's Not just aloss report, released alongside this bill, found that 75 per cent of women coping with miscarriage or stillbirth felt unsupported. More than two-thirds received no workplace support when told their pregnancy had ended. Women in regional and remote areas were 60 per cent more likely to experience perinatal death than those in major cities, and waited an average of three hours longer for miscarriage related care. The report describes an 'abandonment crisis', where families are denied basic workplace protections, such as bereavement leave certificates, that give them time and space to grieve.

One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. Six babies are stillborn every day in Australia. Those numbers demand compassion and not bureaucracy. At a recent South Australian inquiry into stillbirth, a mother named Cathy Nguyen shared her story. She had been told her pregnancy was healthy and low risk. She wrote:

I will never forget the moment my world shattered.

She went through 30 hours of labour to give birth to her daughter, Sage, who was stillborn. She said:

How can nature be so cruel? To allow me to birth death … to go through nearly 30 hours of labour and end with … my lifeless daughter.

Her words remind us that physical recovery, hormonal change and emotional devastation all co-exist and that our systems must recognise that complexity.

In 2018, a federal Senate inquiry into stillbirth delivered 16 recommendations. Labor acted and invested $7.2 million in prevention and research, but we know prevention must be matched by compassion. This bill delivers that next step. It sets a clear national principle that grief will not be compounded by financial loss or administrative cruelty, and it does so with broad support. The minister said: 'I hope the opposition supports this bill, which is motivated by the courageous advocacy of Priya's parents. I've been encouraged by the broad backing we've received from employer and employee groups, because fairness serves everyone.'

When we legislate for compassion, we reaffirm the core Labor principle and belief that work is about people. It's the same belief that drove early generations to fight for annual leave, to fight for simply, to fight for maternity leave and to fight for superannuation on paid parental leave. Fairness at work is not a gift; it's a right earned through struggle and enshrined through law. This bill continues that story. It measures our success not in dollars but in decency. Priya's mother said recently:

Priya's name is going to be law. My fighter girl, my Priya, has changed the world.

She certainly changed Australia. A little girl who lived for 42 days has changed how this country treats parents and families in their most vulnerable moments. That is her legacy. Her parents, who in their darkest hours found the strength to fight not for themselves but for others, have shown extraordinary courage. To them this parliament owns is thanks.

This bill is modest in its text but monumental in its meaning. It restores dignity where indignity once existed. It replaces silence with certainty and it tells every grieving parent in Australia, 'We see you, we stand with you and we will not let the system fail you again.' As a father, as a Labor MP and as an Australian, I see in this bill the best of what government can do: turn private pain into public purpose and ensure that compassion is not left to chance.

This bill before the parliament says that no parent should ever have to have their grief compounded. No family should lose a baby and then have their entitlements loom as a real consequential shadow compounding their grief. In Australia compassion as part of our workplace law. In the end this is more than a bill; it's a promise, a Labor promise, a government promise that our laws will reflect that humanity. It's a promise that the name Priya will forever stand for fairness, dignity and compassion.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Children are a tremendous blessing, and that's why the grief of a lost baby hits so hard—it really hits hard. I truly learned this while riding with a good friend of mine. Cycling in the mornings, and he opened up to me about his experience of stillbirth. He and his wife lost a child. It took some time before he really got into what that meant for them, but it wasn't until I went into their living room and saw on their wall two little footprints which remind them of their lost child.

Stillbirth is incredibly painful for people. That's why I support the intent of this Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya’s) Bill 2025 to uphold and preserve employer funded paid parental leave for those who have lost a child in stillbirth or immediately after. I support this bill and its intent to give certainty around employer funded paid parental leave in that event. Families need support during that terrible time after eight to nine months—maybe even less—of anticipated joy at welcoming another life into this world and building a family, the grief is hard to describe in words. Having not felt myself, I can only imagine. My dear friend in Perth helped me understand what that meant for him and his wife.

But I do have a question about the unintended consequences of this bill, and it applies to late-term abortions. This is a place where we can come and express views according to conscience. It's no secret that I am opposed to late-term abortions. So the point of my speaking this morning is to affirm the intent of this bill, which is to give certainty for families suffering through the loss of a child, and I absolutely support the intent of that. I think it's a noble and good thing, and Baby Priya's bill deserves our support for that reason. But I do call upon the government—I note the sensitivity around this—to clarify that it does not apply to late-term abortions. That is the question at the heart of my speech. That is all I have to say on this matter.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a bill about Baby Priya and about fixing a loophole in a law identified by her grieving parents. It is not about anything else. It is not about a culture war. It is not about what the member has just put as a question. It is a bill born from heartbreak and from the hope of Baby Priya's parents to fix a law that was broken, and nothing else, Member for New England—nothing else. This bill carries the name of a little girl who lived for just six weeks. After Priya passed away, her parents—her mother in particular—faced something no parent should ever face: not just unimaginable grief but a call from her employer asking when she would return to work. She had to renegotiate her paid parental leave while grieving the loss of her child. No parent should ever have to go through that, and I'm sure those opposite degree.

Before this bill, the law was not clear. Employers provide government funded paid parental leave but many also offer their own employer funded leave. Fundamentally, that is a good thing. It is something that, as a Labor government, we encourage. Government funded paid parental leave of course was a Labor creation in 2007, which, importantly, was reformed and modernised last term, with it being extended to six months and, for the first time, having superannuation added to it—good reforms to a good public policy. This bill is also a good form of public policy that our nation needs.

If a child is stillborn or has passed away, the current law does not clearly say whether that employer funded leave could continue. Good employers still protect parents. Some were aware of the loophole but stepped in at a time of grief and they should be applauded. Others do not know what their responsibilities are and that is understandable as well. Then there is obviously the minority who do not really care. This law seeks to bring fairness to paid parental leave legislation, remove that uncertainty, provide clarity for parents and—importantly—employers through what would be just an incredibly terrible time of grief and sadness in a person's life.

This bill makes clear that if a child is stillborn or dies, employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled or taken away. I will repeat that because it seems pretty clear to me what it is here for. If a child is stillborn or dies, the employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled or taken away. It ensures that grieving parents will be able to have the time they need with certainty, dignity and compassion. It brings employer funded leave into line with government funded and unpaid parental leave. It removes confusion both for parents and for employers and it ensures no-one has to make a discretionary call in the middle of a time of immense grief and tragedy. It also preserves the right of employers and employees to bargain in good faith and to continue negotiating above standard conditions if they choose, because we need to also acknowledge that many employers pay paid parental leave and provide these provisions above the minimum standards.

This law is about clarity and compassion. At the heart of this bill is humanity. As a parent, I can't imagine what it's like, the pain of losing a child—the heartbreak that comes when all these hopes and all those plans suddenly stop. Whether it's through miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a baby in those early weeks, that loss changes a person, changes a family, will change a community forever. This reform exists because those parents who experienced that and who went through what Priya's parents went through found the strength at a time of enormous darkness to speak up. They could have stayed silent. They could have sheltered their grief. But, like the best in our society, they said: 'I need to use this pain so that no-one else has to go through what I've been through. No-one should have to go through what we did.'

When parents are going through the worst possible experience, they don't need forms, they don't need to negotiate with their employer, and they certainly don't need to negotiate entitlements and policies; they need time, they need compassion, and they need to know that the world around them understands that their grief is real and that they are supported through that grief.

This law seeks to remove unfairness to give parents the time and space that they need to heal. This bill, I think, also reflects the broader values of our Labor government, something that the member for Calwell so eloquently put in his contribution beforehand. We believe in a fair work system that supports people when they need it most, through wages, through conditions, through support, through leave, through paid parental leave. It's a system that we always need to work on, that we always need to make better, that we always need to modernise, just like we did with reforms to our paid parental leave system, including superannuation payments, so that families are supported and that women's retirement savings in particular are boosted. We're modernising the Fair Work Act to make it fairer, more certain and more compassionate. We're strengthening workplace rights by supporting parents and ensuring that the laws that support them reflect the values of our nation. If we were to go and speak to communities right across the country, I can't see that there would be much objection from many people to this law. Good governments find these loopholes, work with communities and promptly fix them. That's what the minister has done with Priya's parents, and that's what this government will do in support of this bill.

Lastly, I'd just like to acknowledge Priya's parents. It can't be easy to go through this. We all saw them in the gallery when this bill was introduced, with the photo of their baby Priya. Listening to the minister speak must have been an incredibly emotional time for them. I would like to thank them for their courage and for their strength and for turning their deeply personal tragedy into good public policy. Their advocacy has ensured that no other parent will ever have to face the same uncertainty they did. Also, we need to thank the parents and families who have shared their stories, many in our correspondence inboxes, in support of this bill. These families have pushed for fairness and have turned their pain into a good purpose.

This parliament often debates numbers and concepts and percentages, but every now and then we pass a law that speaks directly to our humanity, and this is one of those laws. With the passage of this bill, I say to every parent: if the unthinkable happens, you will have certainty, you will have time, and you will have the compassion of this parliament. Through this bill, baby Priya's name will live on not as a story of loss but as a story of love, of courage and of change. That's something that every member of this house should be proud to support.

Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I flag ahead of time that I'm only going to speak for a few minutes on this matter. Firstly, I associate myself with the comments of all those who've spoken in favour of the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025. This is an incredibly important bit of legislation, and I think the intention here from the government is a very noble one. Many speakers have offered really strong, heartfelt contributions on this. I associate myself with them. This is a really welcome reform. But I also want to raise a concern, as some other members have this afternoon, with a feature of this law that has only been brought to my attention today. I want to seek clarity from the government on that through this contribution.

The member for Calwell made the very good point that without this clarity that the bill is providing for parents who find themselves in this tragic situation it compounds the grief, and I thought that was a very apt line. We have nothing but admiration for Baby Priya's parents, who have gone above and beyond to advocate for this change and to provide that clarity. So many Australians face this grief silently—an unimaginable grief—but Baby Priya's parents have taken that extra step up to say that we need to change this. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts, and I congratulate the government for bringing this bill forward, pushing this reform and closing this loophole.

It is about providing clarity, as the member for Bennelong said. The concern I've got today is in relation to clarity of the use of definitions within the bill. The bill makes reference to stillbirths, and it points back to the definition of 'stillbirth' within the Fair Work Act. There have been some concerns raised with me, and there have been concerns raised with the minister in Senate estimates recently, about whether that definition covers a stillbirth caused by a late-term abortion. I hope that isn't the case. I hope that within this bill we are not including that. I don't think that including that is the intention of the government. I strongly support the intention of the government on this matter. I don't think that is the intention, and I want to seek clarity from the government to ensure that isn't the case, because I do not think that is actually what they want to achieve there. I have gone back and read the Senate estimates transcripts and seen the correspondence that has been made by the minister on this, and they haven't provided me with the necessary answers I need to satisfy myself that that isn't the case in this bill. I'm providing this contribution to ask the government if they can provide that clarity; can you give me that assurance that this does not apply to a stillbirth that has been caused due to a late-term abortion? I would welcome that, and I think many in the community would welcome that as well.

This is a bill that should have support from all corners of Australian society, and if we can achieve that clarity, I think we will get there. I want to associate myself with the remarks of the member for Canning, the member for New England and the member for Barker, who have all outlined this issue, and with everyone who has spoken in favour of this bill, because I can appreciate the intention here. I can appreciate the passion people have brought to this issue and I strongly support the intention. I thank the House.

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am standing in support of the Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025. I do so encouraged by the fact that we are having this debate in good faith, and with a bipartisanship that is probably all too rare for our parliament—we should have more of that. It is good to see that there is a genuine debate we are having around something that there is bipartisan support for.

All of us, on either side of the aisles, know that we are passing this because we want to make sure parents don't have to make that devastating choice between returning to work or giving themselves the space to heal post the loss of a child. I think we're all in agreement that no parent should have to be forced to return to work after enduring a stillbirth or the death of a child.

This bill delivers on our election commitment to legislate for that continued access of employer and paid parental leave for working parents dealing with stillbirth or early infant death. It removes the archaic sections out of the Fair Work Act which state that, where a child is stillborn or dies, an employer may give notice to cancel or reduce the leave period. Today we are changing that. Amendments in the bill will preserve entitlements to paid parental leave in situations of infant loss by preventing employers from either refusing to allow employees to take PPL or unilaterally cancelling approved periods of PPL. We've heard some disturbing stories on the news during the course of this debate about employers, who otherwise have had a great relationship with employees, suddenly deciding to cancel what had been approved periods of paid parental leave. One of the parents informed their employer and then was told that they had to come back to work in a couple of days; they were only entitled to two days of bereavement leave.

These changes include those who have had children through surrogacy or adoption arrangements as well. The bill is named after Baby Priya, who heartbreakingly died when she was just 42 days old. In the aftermath of Priya's loss, her mother was told that her paid parental leave was no longer available. It's the same story that so many parents have faced. Meanwhile, Baby Priya's father was allowed to take his full leave entitlement. The loss of a child is profoundly tragic. The fact that Baby Priya's mother had to return to work while she was still grieving that loss and that trauma is absolutely devastating.

In the darkest moment a family can have, Priya's parents were still able to muster the strength to highlight this devastating issue through an online petition which they organised, which was remarkable in the courage that they had, even in their darkest moment, to do that. That caught the attention of so many Australians. It was 30,000 people who signed that online petition. The issue reached the desks of key federal Labor ministers, and they knew they had to act. So, thanks to the tireless advocacy of Baby Priya's parents, this important issue will now be enshrined in legislation, and they take great credit for that effort.

We know no parent should have to go through what Priya's mum experienced. Unfortunately, we see the tragic loss in the statistics. Over 3,000 Australian babies died in the perinatal period in 2021. That's about six babies being stillborn every day and two dying within 28 days of birth. Behind every one of those deaths is a heartbreaking period of loss and mourning and grief by the families, with their lives being changed forever. When they face that unimaginable loss, often without the time or support they need to begin healing, it just compounds the grief and pain. So many of them find themselves navigating complex systems and unclear entitlements at a moment when they should be focusing solely on saying goodbye and caring for each other.

Fundamentally, it's important for parents to have certainty about their entitlements at such a difficult moment in their lives, a difficult period, giving them the time and space to grieve. Our government shares this belief, and that's why we've acted to safeguard employer paid parental leave entitlements. The government knows that women should never be faced with workplace insecurity if such a tragedy does strike. It's about enabling confident family and career planning. The bill is another step towards supporting women's long-term participation in the workforce. It ensures their skills and experience aren't lost to the economy when they take time to care or recover.

This reform to leave entitlements on paid parental leave forms part of a broader set of work that we are undertaking toward strengthening the rights and opportunities for women at every stage of their life through their working life. As a government, we've made these record investments to support women in this context as well—expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks, making it more flexible to share between parents, paying superannuation on paid parental leave, making child care cheaper, opening 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics with 11 more on the way, and investing over half a billion in women's health, including new measures on the PBS. These investments are not just figures in the budget; they demonstrate the intent to make a difference to women every day with respect to their quality of life and their health outcomes across Australia.

As the member for Bennelong noted, there's a lot of discussion here about statistics and numbers and percentages. I've just rattled off a few. I guess that's what we do here. But, as I said at the start of my remarks, the fact that there is bipartisan support across the aisle and there is support across the parliament for this bill is so encouraging. Our actions today make a difference. They go beyond the numbers. They're about honouring lives. They're about helping shape futures and doing what's right for people who experience this unthinkable tragedy in their lives.

Importantly, this bill honours young lives lost too soon. This legislation, when passed, is not going to take away the pain of those who are suffering and enduring the loss of an infant, of a child. It's not going to take that away; that's always going to be there. But it does acknowledge an important issue which affects thousands of Australian families each year. It does provide parents some sense of stability and certainty in their most difficult time. While you can make that time worse, by cancelling paid parental leave—that's one of the ways it happens—we are making sure that time is not worse and that at least they have that certainty.

There hasn't been that legal protection, up until now, to stop employers from cancelling PPL. For parents like Baby Priya's and for every family who has lost a child in that unthinkable way and had that experience, this is going to be a lasting legacy. Baby Priya's parents have been so instrumental in ensuring that occurs. It's a promise that no-one is going to face this pain alone and that they're not going to be forced back to work while they're still trying to survive the deepest loss imaginable. It honours the strength of Baby Priya's parents, whose real courage actually made this possible. It is going to make our workplaces fairer and more compassionate. For that, I commend this bill to the House.

The Federation Chamber transcript was published up to 12:11. The remainder of the transcript will be published progressively as it is completed.