Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know there are people who think that paid parental leave only affects mums of a certain age, but, of course, the impacts of not being able to access leave really have a myriad of consequences across families—for mums and dads, for immediate family, for extended family and, importantly, for employers.

I was in a particular group, in the early 1990s, where I wasn't entitled to a day of what we then called maternity leave. I had been working out of the country for several years, self-employed as a freelance journalist for much of it, or with a UK employer, and none of my entitlements came home with me. On arriving home, pregnant, I realised that I was going to have to work through not just the pregnancy but those first few months. My husband and I did not have an economic choice about that. I'm not a believer in 'I managed it so everyone else should,' although, sadly, I have heard women say, 'We did without it, and I don't know why it's such a big deal now,' but it is. You only have to remember the struggles that you had as a young mum, juggling work deadlines while breastfeeding a baby, having a sick child and knowing that if you're not working there's not going to be anyone to pay the mortgage. Those sorts of pressures on young families are extraordinary, and it is really significant that, in the last few years, since the Gillard days, there has been a recognition that it is an essential part of a healthy society that we have a good paid parental leave program. I'm very proud that this government sees it as a priority, as we do so many of those financial supports that mean women can not only close the gender gap in their earnings but really thrive in an environment where they have freedom to make some choices about how they work and when they work. Our legislation around child care and reducing the costs of early childhood education is another example of that.

I'm delighted to be able to speak to the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022, and I'm very much looking forward to it becoming a reality, as, I must say, are my children, who are in their late 20s and early 30s. Their generation is looking to us to help them find a way to make their next steps in the world. One of the things that I noticed at the Jobs and Skills Summit was how high a priority improvements to paid parental leave were. These messages were not necessarily coming from people representing the mums and the dads; they were coming from businesses and the business sector because, in fact, such improvements turn out to be a microeconomic reform. We listened to the variety of proposals that were raised, and we would love to do everything, but we've started with the priorities. This is the most significant step to improving the scheme since it was established by Labor in 2011.

The bill that we're debating today reflects our commitment to improve the lives of working families and advance women's economic equality. That's why I'm very proud that I'm speaking today as we mark International Women's Day in parliament, which we usually do a few weeks before International Women's Day takes place on 8 March. It is a reminder of how poorly we do in Australia. In fact, this morning, we were reminded that, in the area of gender equality, Australia doesn't sit in the top 5 or the top 10 on the global list of countries that are doing a really good job. We don't even sit in the top 20, nor the top 30. We are No. 43 on that list. In the top 10, you've got a whole lot of countries you'd expect—a bunch of Scandinavian countries and New Zealand—but you've also got Rwanda and Nicaragua. We really should be up there at the top because we're an economy and a country that can make these improvements. This bill will help. Around 181,000 families will benefit directly from the changes in the bill, including around 4,300 people who would have been ineligible under the current scheme without the changes but will now gain access.

What we're really doing is modernising paid parental leave so that it reflects the community and families that we have today. The needs of our families and the community have changed since paid parental leave was first established over a decade ago. These changes will come in from 1 July, which is why we're here now, with some urgency, debating this—so that it can be put in place. It lays the foundations for reform that we want to see by expanding the paid parental leave program to 26 weeks by 2026. The current scheme doesn't do enough to provide access for fathers and partners. It limits the flexibility around how families choose to take their leave and how they choose to transition back to work. One of the current features of the scheme is that the eligibility rules are unfair to families where the mother is the higher income earner. It is worth noting that between 2010 and 2017 the number of women with taxable incomes of more than $150,000 has more than doubled. This bill fixes the issues that limit their access in the current scheme. It fixes all those issues, in fact, and it gives families more access to the government payment. It gives parents greater flexibility, and it encourages parents to share care and to improve gender equality. So, while in a very narrow context this is about making it easier for families, the difference it can make in terms of promoting gender equality is really key, which is why that is named in the bill as its feature—for families and for gender equality.

Let me run through the key points. There are six key changes. From 1 July 2023 the two existing payments will be combined into a single 20-week scheme. We're reserving a portion of the scheme for each parent to support them both to take time off work after a birth or an adoption. We're making it easier for both parents to access the payment by removing the notion of 'primary' and 'secondary' carer. We're expanding access by introducing a $350,000 family income test, which families can be assessed under if they exceed the individual income test. We're increasing flexibility for parents to choose how they take leave days. And we're allowing eligible fathers and partners to access the payment irrespective of whether the birth parent meets the income test or residency requirements. These are changes that will allow many families to breathe a sigh of relief and to know that there's support for them when they really need it most in those early weeks and months.

I want to speak a bit about the use of the leave by fathers and partners in the form of dad and partner pay. This really is a very significant change. One thing it does is preserve the existing feature by reserving two weeks of the payment for each parent. So, there is a preservation of those portions. incorporating this reserved portion under a single scheme rather than a standalone payment means we're making the sharing of parental leave between parents a central part of it—a real partnership. And I think we've seen from so many new mums and dads in this chamber exactly how modern families work. In some ways, this bill is catching up with what is already happening, where it is financially possible to do it.

The bill supports both parents to take leave beyond the two-week reserved period. Really importantly, single parents will be eligible for the full 20 weeks. Another significant benefit of the move to a single 20-week scheme is that it allows fathers and partners to receive the government payment at the same time as their employer-paid leave. That's currently available to mothers, but it hasn't been available to partners and fathers. Fixing this inequality actually removes the financial disincentive for fathers and partners to access the scheme to take time off work to care for a child. What it really does, by allowing both parents to claim the government payment alongside their employer-paid leave, is to make it easier for them to maintain their income while caring for their child, and we hope this will result in more partners and dads taking leave. We are really mindful of the financial pressures people are under, and support for that is built into this legislation.

We know that when both parents are not supported to take time off work to care for their babies a couple of things happen. Usually the mum works less or leaves the workforce altogether to take on caring responsibility, while often the dad or other partner remains in full-time work. That pattern isn't for just the first few months. That pattern persists for years and years after the child's birth, and it is a key driver of gender gaps in workforce participation and therefore in earnings. So, this bill works to address those really fundamental issues.

The government supports dads and non-birth parents sharing the load of caring responsibilities because we know that, when they do, it benefits everyone. When fathers take a greater caring role from the start, it establishes patterns of care that continue throughout a child's life. I was very fortunate to have had a husband who worked shifts when we had young kids, so there was a lot of sharing. But not every family is in that situation. My husband would never miss the joys of making school lunches for his children frequently, regularly, often, because some of those small things are when the real quality time happens, not to mention the skills that you learn in getting kids off to school and negotiating. I think it works both ways. But a whole lot of families just don't have that opportunity. Providing this access and allowing dads and non-birth partners to be involved right from the start will start to change the patterns that emerge in years to come.

The other way we do that is by removing the notion of primary and secondary carers and allowing all eligible parents to claim the payment. If you haven't made this claim, this is probably news. Currently, mothers must make a successful claim for their parental leave pay and then transfer the payment to their partner if they want to share some of it. That's a complex and administratively burdensome process. It makes it difficult for fathers to take leave, even when it's in the best interests of their families. That's why, in 2021-22, less than one per cent of mothers transferred some of their payment to fathers or partners. The new simpler claims process will allow eligible fathers to qualify if the mother or birth parent doesn't meet the income test or residency requirements, but they will still get it. So there are a whole lot of things that are going to shift this to a more equitable process.

I also want to note that there is a change in the way it's done. The shift to a gender-neutral claiming process is important because it's more inclusive and recognises the diversity of Australian families. I have spoken briefly about the fact that this lifts the threshold for families. It introduces an income limit for a family of $350,000. But it changes the current limit for individuals, because we found women being excluded from it. A combined limit of 350,000 will bring in a whole lot more families. Parents, including single parents, will be eligible for it if they meet either the individual income or the family income test. Again, it's a much fairer system.

I want to congratulate the ministers who've worked on this. There are always many hands. It reflects the make-up of our caucus, where we have many young members, men and women, who have young children and shows that we are in touch with what is happening in our communities. This is something that, on the face of it, a family might say, 'This is great for us,' but we know that this is great for the broader society and terrific for our economy.

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