Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Calwell for her question and for her commitment to Australia’s first national paid parental leave scheme. On 1 January next year, in just over six weeks, Australia will finally catch up with the rest of the developed world and see the implementation of our national paid parental leave scheme. This will be such a significant day for thousands of mums and dads around the country who will be able to get that extra assistance that they need to help their newborn babies. After waiting for decades, Australia will finally get a national paid parental leave scheme, and it is this federal Labor government that is delivering it. We know how important it is. That is why have taken the advice and are delivering up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave paid at the federal minimum wage, which is around $570 a week before tax.

We estimate that around 148,000 parents will be eligible for paid parental leave. I can inform the House that parents are now ringing the Family Assistance Office or going online and registering for paid parental leave. They are getting their applications in for babies who are expected to be born in January and February next year. So far, more than 1,500 parents have registered for paid parental leave. Parents can now register up to three months in advance of the expected date of their baby’s birth. That of course means that they can get all that paperwork done before their baby comes along.

I am also very pleased to be able to inform the House that we have a number of employers who are also already registered to deliver paid parental leave on behalf of the government. We have more than 450 employers already registered to play their part in the government’s scheme to deliver paid parental leave to their long-term employees. We are very pleased with the way in which employers are responding. They understand just how important it is for women to stay connected to the workforce, and we expect that this will improve the participation of women in the workforce. It demonstrates that these employers understand that paid parental leave is both good for their employees and good for their businesses.

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