Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to talk about National Families Week 2008, which we have celebrated this week between 11 and 17 May. National Families Week is an annual event involving tens of thousands of people and hundreds of organisations across Australia. Its purpose is to celebrate family life in Australia and to recognise the diversity of the family unit in modern Australia.

Australia’s celebration of National Families Week is scheduled today, 15 May, to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Families. This day is observed by the United Nations to mark the importance of families in the international community and to draw attention to the plight of families around the world. It is an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families as the core unit of society and to promote a better understanding of the functions, problems, strengths and needs of families, as well as to recognise the social, economic, cultural and demographic issues which also affect families.

Australia’s celebrations are headed by Australia’s peak independent not-for-profit organisation for promoting the needs and interests of families—that is, Families Australia—on behalf of the Australian government’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Work and family: getting the balance right’, which is particularly about encouraging Australian families to find ways to effectively balance work and family life.

Families are an important priority for this government. The Rudd Labor government recognises many of the financial pressures placed on families, in whatever capacity a family may exist, and is working hard to reduce pressures on working families through the implementation of its policies. Families are an important resource in Australia. They are society’s most enduring basis for raising children, caring for family members, providing and receiving love, meaning and support and for transmitting values, culture, language and traditions between generations.

A traditional modern Australian family almost defies definition these days. There is a great diversity of family forms in Australia. There are married and de facto couples with or without children, single parents, same-sex couples with or without children, grandparents taking on the parental role for their grandchildren, foster parents, adoptive parents and step-parents. Extended family and grandparents often play an important role in supporting families, and more and more family members are often acting as full-time carers to their sick, injured or disabled relatives. Australian families, in whichever form they exist, are all valued equally in our society and recognised for their crucial societal role.

An important recent initiative of the government has been to draft the Same-Sex Relationships (Provision of Equal Entitlements) Bill (No. 1) 2008, which will be introduced into the parliament in the winter sittings. This legislation will serve to remove a raft of discrimination which currently exists in federal legislation and particularly impacts same-sex couples and their children. This law is expected to be operational by the middle of next year. The reforms will cover areas such as tax, superannuation, Medicare, pharmaceutical benefits, aged care, veterans entitlements, workers compensation and employment entitlements. But, most importantly, the bill will provide economic equality for same-sex couples throughout Australia and will ensure that the children of same-sex parents receive the same benefits as all other Australian children and are not disadvantaged simply because of structure of their family.

The budget delivered by the Treasurer, Mr Swan, on Tuesday night also provided good news for families. A number of measures were announced that were aimed at relieving pressures facing families. I am pleased to hear that the Chief Executive of Families Australia, Mr Brian Baddington, welcomed the budget and described it as, ‘Good news for families and children.’ The budget announced new federal funding for education and health infrastructure as well as new funding support for Indigenous families through the provision of child and maternal health and education programs.

Child care and early education also received funding and there was a special allocation made for the development of Australia’s first ever national child protection plan. The government committed $2.6 million to work with all levels of government, child protection workers and the community sector to establish a national framework to protect all children. All levels of government can help strengthen families and prevent the circumstances in which child abuse and neglect are commonly found. The national framework for protection of Australia’s children is a key part of the Australian government’s child-centred approach to family policy.

The changes to the carer payment in the budget will mean that thousands of parents who are carers of children with severe disability will now have access to essential benefits. The budget also included tax cuts for low to middle-income earners, an increase in the child-care tax rebate, as well as funding for the first home saver accounts, the Rental Affordability Scheme and the national Fuelwatch scheme, all of which will assist families with housing and managing their own family budgets. Overall, the budget offered good news for families and the working family support package will help families meet the cost of living.

As I mentioned in my introductory remarks, the theme for National Families Week this year is ‘Work and family: getting the balance right’, which is particularly about encouraging Australian families to find ways to effectively balance their work and family lives. The Rudd government announced in February of this year that it would ask the Productivity Commission to examine ways the government can provide improved support to parents with newborn children. The Productivity Commission’s inquiry into paid maternity, paternity and parental leave will take place throughout this year, and is due to report in February 2009. Any policy reforms in this area will be aimed at ensuring strong and sustainable economic growth. It  will take into account our ageing population and the importance of early childhood development, and it will support Australian families balancing work and family responsibilities.

Around 250,000 children are born every year in Australia and many parents who care for these children are currently not entitled to paid parental leave. As a consequence, I am very pleased that the inquiry has been given the responsibility of exploring the current extent of paid parental leave provided by employers in Australia and identifying models of paid parental leave that could be adopted in this country. In conclusion, as we celebrate National Families Week this week, it is important to recognise the diversity of modern Australian families, the unique and important role that families play in raising children and caring for one another, and to ensure that we continue to offer the best support possible to families in these roles.