Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to the speak to the Midwife Professional Indemnity Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, an important bill because it goes towards providing greater certainty and assurance to those midwives who are employed in their own businesses, in particular, following a series of changes that were made in the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010.

Under this bill, which is relatively technical in nature, there have been changes made to ensure that self-employed midwives are able to access the Midwife Professional Indemnity Scheme. The bill also amends the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-Off Cover Support Payment) Act 2010 to ensure that the tax on insurers of eligible midwives is correctly calculated, after there was a typographical error in the act that imposed a much higher tax on the premium income of insurers of midwives.

The situation that arose was that the tax payable exceeded the premium that was going to be charged. We are informed, as members of the opposition, that this was an unintentional consequence of a typographical error within the act. To the extent that this bill clarifies the intent of the original legislation and provides the assurance that is sought, the coalition is certainly supportive of it, as am I, as a member of the coalition.

The role of midwives is crucial. My wife and I had the opportunity and indeed the great joy of having a child a little over two years ago now. There is no doubt that, for many women, midwives are a source of solid support, reassurance and knowledge when they take the journey of childbirth. The government should do anything it can to make it easier for women to practise the art of midwifery without the risk of there being a successful lawsuit hanging over their head for practices that are not negligent or reckless.

We know that in past years there has been a massive increase in the number of tort actions against, amongst others, midwives. We have seen the repercussions, with there being a large decrease in the number of midwives seeking to practise and changes in the structures that midwives adopt as employees, self-employed members of the community and indeed small business operators and proprietors, as they may well be.

This bill before the House today provides certainty. It delivers on the policy intent of making sure that there is support for them to undertake their practices, given their importance in the community and making sure that we as a society recognise that women seek support when they go through the process of childbirth and in the many months leading up to it.

As a husband, there was reassurance for me too to know that there was perhaps an alternative source of information that my wife could turn to beyond my mother-in-law or sisters. I was just grateful, frankly, that it wasn't me. In that vein, I think that we should be doing all that we can to make sure that the fine and delicate art of being a midwife is kept alive for as long as possible. It seems to me that, if anything should be labelled 'secret women's business', perhaps this should be. But then again that might just be an old-fashioned Steve Ciobo talking, rather than someone who is necessarily the most up-to-date—

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