Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Paid Parental Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022. The journey to parenthood isn't always easy, and the transition to life with a new addition in the family can bring with it all types of challenges. The ability for parents to take paid parental leave has been settled since 2011, albeit too rigidly. It has meant that the primary caregiver can take up to 18 weeks paid parental leave, and the secondary caregiver can receive two weeks partner pay. One of the best ways to boost productivity and participation in the workforce is to provide more choice and more support for families. Investment in paid parental leave advances gender equality and opportunities for individuals, regardless of their choice to start a family, which people in my electorate of Calare and across the country are calling out for. That is why I'm supportive of the changes proposed in this bill.

This bill will give more families access to the government paid parental leave payment, thereby providing parents greater flexibility in how they take leave, and it will encourage them to share care to support more gender equality. The bill intends to extend parental leave pay from 18 weeks to 20 weeks, with parents who are single at the time of their claim being able to access the full 20 weeks. This extension is a result of combining the current maximum of 18 weeks of parental leave pay with the current two weeks of pay that is available for partners and other carers. Dad and partner pay, as it has been known, will basically be abolished. The bill removes the notion of primary, secondary and tertiary claimants and the requirement that the primary claimant of parental leave must be the birth parent, allowing families to decide who will claim first and how they will share the entitlement.

This bill also makes paid parental leave consist only of flexible PPL days, allowing claimants to take the payment in multiple blocks, as small as a day at a time, within two years of the birth or adoption, and it removes the requirement to not return to work in order to be eligible. The bill also introduces a $350,000 family income limit, under which families can be assessed if they do not meet the individual income test. The bill also expands eligibility to allow an eligible father or partner to receive parental leave pay regardless of whether the birth parent meets the income test or residency requirements or is serving a newly arrived residents waiting period. I note the government has also promised to introduce further legislation to progressively increase the Paid Parental Leave scheme from July 2024 until it reaches 26 weeks in 2026, a full six months, something I'm also supportive of.

Despite the make-up of families rapidly evolving, women are still much more likely than men to be primary caregivers. In 2021, women took 88 per cent of primary parental leave, and nine per cent of Australian businesses still offered parental leave to women only. In Australia, 60 per cent of employers offer paid parental leave in some form, but half the organisations in male dominated industries don't offer any form of paid primary carer leave. According to KPMG, the division of labour within a household is responsible for 39 per cent of the full-time pay gap between Australian men and women; it's why an effective paid parental leave scheme is critical to improving economic and social equality. Encouraging more equitable care of a child between parents or additional assistance for a single parent is progress that needs to be made.

According to Danielle Wood and Owain Emslie of the Grattan Institute, this initiative should increase GDP by $900 million a year due to increased workforce participation by mothers, and this is good news. At a time when employers are screaming out for new employees, providing primary caregivers the option to return to work sooner and in a more flexible manner is a win for employers and employees alike, and I therefore commend this bill to the House.

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