Senate debates

Wednesday, 7 October 2020

Questions without Notice

Budget

2:25 pm

Photo of Anne RustonAnne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Abetz for his question and acknowledge his ongoing interest in this area, particularly in support of Australia's families, and his very thoughtful op-ed in The Examiner yesterday, which I'm sure everybody here has read.

Sadly, like so many Australian families, women, expectant mothers, have faced significant job losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic through no fault of their own. That's why we announced yesterday a package of $130 million over 12 months to support those parents who were previously employed but found themselves unemployed and, as a result, did not meet the work test for paid parental leave within the allocated time limit. Under normal circumstances, the work test requires a parent to be in work for 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth of a child in order for them to qualify for paid parental leave. As of the announcement last night, women who give birth between 22 March this year and 31 March next year will be able to have a change in terms of the arrangements—that is, instead of 10 months in 13 months it will be 10 months in 20 months, recognising the difficulty of the pandemic. That will affect around 12,800 families and maintain their connection to the workforce.

But we also understand that many couples had probably made decisions in relation to starting a family before the devastating impact of theCOVID pandemic and therefore had made their arrangements in relation to their finances and structured their lives believing they would be eligible for paid parental leave. This temporary change recognises that we understand that those 12,800 families would otherwise have qualified for paid parental leave, and now they will be able to get access to it.

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