Are we there yet?  Paid Parental Leave

Recently, after the announcement of the Federal government Productivity Commission many enquiries were taken by the Department asking of the impact of the announcement.  Primarily questioning if women should be celebrating or not?  We supply a discussion paper as a way of giving background to the announcement and to work along with key sector groups involved.

Announcement
On Tuesday, 12 May 2009, the Federal Government announced a proposed introduction of paid parental leave for primary carers in the workforce, as part of the Federal Budget for 2009/2010. This is a first comprehensive, statutory paid parental leave in the country’s history.

The history
Until now, Australia has been one of only two OECD countries, along with the USA, without a paid parental leave scheme.  Some women, mainly in the middle to high income brackets, were able to access paid maternity leave through the enterprise agreements or individual contract arrangements with their employers. The vast majority of women in Australia, however, had no such right, and most of these women were on low incomes.

Australian women have campaigned for paid parental leave since the 1970s. In prior eras, from the 1940s through to the 1970s, women were in receipt of a weekly child endowment payment. This changed to family allowance payments in the 1970s.  But never before was parental leave seen by the governments as a universal workplace relations measure, although women’s rights campaigners always insisted such initiatives were in the interest of both mother and child after birth.

Our contributions
The Department played an important role in the consultations around the paid parental leave, principally organised by the National Foundation of Australian Women (NFAW). The views of Western Australian women were articulated through the Women’s Advisory Network of WA (WANWA) and the Indigenous Women’s Congress (IWC) to the Minister for Women’s Interests.  Marie Coleman, who led national consultations on behalf of NFAW, met with the Minister and secured strong support for the scheme.

The Department contributed submissions to the discussion papers by the Productivity Commission, charged with investigating and recommending options to the Australian Government.  Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald visited WA and met with a team comprising staff, WANWA and IWC members.

International Recognition
There is wide recognition, as promoted by the World Health Organisation, that the first months are a critical time for bonding and attachment between mothers and babies, and women’s recovery after birth.  In acknowledgement of the health implications, and in order to increase women’s participation in the workforce, NFAW wrote to each political party prior to the 2007 federal election, asking for a commitment to the introduction of paid maternity leave.  They received a promise that the current Federal Government would investigate the options of a cost-effective paid maternity and parental leave scheme.  The Australian Government have now published the final report of the Productivity Commission with the Budget Statements.

Are we there yet?
While the leave will be available to parents from 1 January 2011, claims can be lodged from 1 October 2010, assuming that the Budget is passed by the Commonwealth Parliament in its present form.  The scheme will provide 18 weeks leave at the federal minimum wage (currently $543.78 a week) following the birth or adoption of a child, for primary carers who satisfy workforce participation requirements.  These requirements include:

• A parent must have worked continuously with one or more employers for at least 10 of the 13 months before the expected date of birth or adoption.
• A parent must have spent at least 330 hours in those 10 months at work.
• A parent has an adjustable taxable income of $150,000 or less in the financial year prior to the date of birth or adoption.

We have made a step towards a long held request and significant policy that will support many women…. but it’s not here yet!