Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Collins for her longstanding interest in these matters. Last week the parliament took another important step to support Australian families with the Rudd government delivering Australia’s first paid parental leave scheme. For the first time in Australia’s history, working women will have access to paid parental leave, giving them greater financial security when planning to have a child. The Rudd government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme provides equal access to parental leave for all eligible women.

I think it is worth noting that around 30,000 working families with incomes less than $50,000 a year are expected to benefit from the government’s scheme. Women on low incomes now have the security of 18 weeks parental leave paid at the federal minimum wage. In 2009, only 15 per cent of women earning $300 a week had access to paid parental leave, compared to almost 70 per cent of women on high wages, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Rudd government’s scheme helps women to remain connected to the workforce while easing the financial burdens so that they can spend more time with their new baby in those important early months. The government’s plan supports families to make their own work and family choices. Parents can transfer or share the leave so that they have more options for balancing work and family. We know that more and more fathers are hands-on at home sharing that load.

It is in the best interests of the children too when parents are supported to stay home from work in those critical early months after the birth of their child. We know that those children get the best start in life. All the research proves this and it obviously helps families feel more secure and more in control. Paid parental leave will be available to Australian parents for births and adoptions on or after 1 January next year. It is a tremendous breakthrough for working families.