Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I pay respect to the member for Monash and his long service to the parliament, but his comments don't relate to the bill in any way at all. This is a bill about paid parental leave and adding superannuation. It's not about vaccination or a family's choice with respect to health. It's about superannuation being added onto paid parental leave, and nearly all of the member's speech didn't relate to the bill in any way at all.

I am very honoured to speak in support of the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024. Labor has a long and proud history of improving the lives of Australian families with critical nation-building reforms, and it's incredibly disappointing to hear that the opposition are trying to move amendments so that people can choose to receive a lump-sum payment rather than superannuation on their paid parental leave. This is the usual pointless negativity we hear those opposite, and we are seeing it more and more, in more and more pieces of legislation before the chamber. They said previously they were going to support superannuation being paid on paid parental leave, but they are now crab-walking away as fast as they can, according to media reports.

This is a very important measure to close the gap on women's retirement incomes and ensure that government paid parental leave is treated just like any other government workplace entitlement that attracts superannuation. We know women are the predominant beneficiaries of this and often retire with superannuation accounts much lower than men, resulting in some cases of older women becoming homeless or facing income and housing insecurity.

We know that on average women have 25.1 per cent less superannuation than men of the same age when approaching retirement. Paying superannuation on paid parental leave is really a very significant reform to ensure parents not only get the support they need at the time of their newborn baby but also don't miss out on their retirement savings in the form of superannuation. Those opposite need to do the right thing and stop standing in the way of paying superannuation on paid parental leave to help mums and dads across the country.

During the time I've been in this place, I barely remember at any stage the Liberal and National parties supporting superannuation. They are constantly talking it down, constantly criticising, constantly—in government—deferring increases in the superannuation guarantee, constantly saying that they are going to have a different schemes to raid superannuation and—in government—doing so during COVID. We on this side support superannuation.

It was a Labor government that first introduced maternity allowance back in 1912. It was a Labor government that created Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the Superannuation Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Labor governments reform; coalition governments oppose. Labor governments supported delivering no-fault divorce, the single mother's benefit and the child support system. It was a Labor government, the Gillard government, that introduced paid parental leave in this country. They were all big, bold structural reforms.

When paid parental leave was introduced in 2011, it was a major milestone for Australian families. For many parents, the 18-week payment fully funded by the government was the first time they could access any form of parental leave. This was a material advancement in the workplace and in economic equality for women, whose disproportionate share of unpaid care has long-term consequences for their economic security or insecurity. Paid parental leave is critical for families, critical for women and critical for the economy. It ticked all the boxes in the so-called triple-P framework of population, participation and productivity and that is why it is not only good social policy but good economic reform as well. The Gillard government knew that; the Albanese government knows it as well.

From day one the Albanese government has been working hard to improve and modernise paid parental leave for working families, the centrepiece of our first budget. We announced important reforms to modernise the scheme to meet the needs of Australian families. First, we passed legislation so that from 1 July 2023 more families could access the payment with more generous family income tests, making it easier for parents to share care. They can take leave flexibly with periods of work in between to support their transition back to work.

Then earlier this year we passed legislation to increase the length of the scheme. From 1 July this year, we've added two more weeks of payment, expanding the scheme from 20 weeks to 22 weeks. The scheme will further expand by two weeks each year until it reaches 26 weeks or an equivalent of a full six months in 2026, the largest expansion of paid parental leave since Labor established it in 2011. All of these changes combined mean that paid parental leave is now more accessible, more flexible and it encourages shared care. It supports parents to take a step back from paid work and it provides critical financial support at such an important time. Parents can now share over $20,000 to support them after the birth of a new baby.

The bill we are debating today, the Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024, is the third significant reform that the Albanese government has made to paid parental leave. Through paid parental leave, the government supports parents to take time off work after the birth or adoption of their child and, through this bill, we're supporting retirement as well—birth and retirement.

This legislation builds on recent reforms that allow, I think, our policy in this country to be more flexible, accessible and gender equitable through an increase to the length of the scheme. It implements a budgetary measure this year which we first announced in March with the launch of Australia's national strategy for gender equality—Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality. Through this bill we are investing $1.1 billion over the forward estimates to pay superannuation and government funded paid parental leave from July 2025 by making an annual government funded superannuation contribution to a recipient's nominated superannuation fund.

Subject to the passage of this bill, eligible parents or caregivers with babies born or adopted on or after 1 July 2025 and who receive government paid parental leave will receive an additional payment, based on the superannuation guarantee, of 12 per cent of their paid parental leave payment. The Australian Taxation Office will make a lump sum payment, following the end of each year where a recipient received paid parental leave, directly to their superannuation account—not out of it, as the coalition proposes. As the payment will be made following the end of each financial year, nominal interest will be paid to compensate for the interest which would have otherwise accumulated had the contribution been made on a pay-as-you-go basis. Most parents won't need to do anything further to receive superannuation payment, and the claims process for paid parental leave will not change.

The bill makes some technical amendments allowing employees to access keeping-in-touch days after taking flexible leave. It rectifies an unintended outcome of the Fair Work legislation.

Paying superannuation on paid parental leave will improve the economic security in retirement of 180,000 families each year. In my own electorate, more than 2,600 families will receive paid parental leave and stand to benefit from adding superannuation to their payment. The Paid Parental Leave scheme provides financial support for eligible working families to take time off work after the birth or adoption of a child. Again, this legislation builds on recent reforms, including the expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme to 26 weeks. The maximum amount a family will receive in 2026 in superannuation contributions will be about $3,000 per birth of a child.

The reform has been subject to extensive consultation in recent times. Many stakeholders have called for superannuation to be added to government funded paid parental leave, including the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Business Council of Australia and the superannuation sector—a broad range of stakeholders. It was a key recommendation of the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce and of a long campaign by women's groups, including trade unions and the women's movement generally, and I commend them for their advocacy. It is consistent with the findings of the report Working for women: a strategy for gender equality, which the government released on International Women's Day, 8 March, this year. As a result of these changes, which will be widely and warmly welcomed by stakeholders, women will achieve greater equality.

This significant reform will benefit Australian families, and it's an investment in economic security in the broader economy. Taking time out of work to care for children is a normal part of working life for both parents these days. Paying superannuation on government paid parental leave will help normalise paid leave as a workplace entitlement like annual and sick leave and will reduce the impact of paid parental leave on retirement incomes. It builds on our changes that commenced from July last year to give more families access to the payment, including through a more generous $350,000 family income test, and it makes it much easier for both parents to share care.

Labor committed to delivering for women and to driving gender equality before the last election. We are delivering on that in government, particularly with this commitment. This reform is in addition to significant investments we have made and actions we have taken to deliver for women since the May 2022 budget and election, demonstrating the Albanese government's deep commitment to working women. Alongside Labor's cost-of-living tax cuts and key investments in cheaper child care, women's safety and women's health, parenting payment single payments and workplace relations reform, the government continues to focus on women's economic security—a key feature of our economic plan.

What this shows is that we are serious about making sure women are supported when they are balancing caring and working responsibilities. It is absolutely clear that women are worse off without superannuation being paid on paid parental leave. It's a key step in prioritising gender equality, better valuing care work and improving women's workforce participation. It's normalising a workplace entitlement—it makes it normal in the workplace. It's key. It demonstrates the reality of the workplace situations for families and what we see in our workplaces each and every day.

It's critical that we do this. These reforms cement our Labor legacy yet again, with the scheme sitting largely untouched by the coalition for nearly a decade. We had nearly a decade of those opposite doing nothing to advance the cause of economic equality for women in this area. These reforms are part of our agenda to put greater economic inclusion for women at the centre of what we do as a government. They're about ensuring women earn more, keep more of what they earn and retire with more as well.

It was Labor that established our modern superannuation scheme, and, in the long term, we know this is an important change, a more dignified and secure retirement for more Australian women. We've made clear, for some time, this is our priority, and we're making it a reality today. We know paid parental leave is vital for the health and wellbeing of parents and their children, where investing in paid parental leave benefits our economy as well. Businesses, unions and experts all understand this, and it beggars belief that those opposite cannot grasp this. We know it's the right thing to do.

Paying paid parental leave advances gender equality. For one, it would help to reduce the gender gaps we often see in the superannuation balances I referred to earlier. Research shows that fathers are more likely to use paid parental leave when it's well paid and flexible. Taking together all recent PPL reforms, including access, making it more flexible, introducing a 'use it or lose it' period, expanding it to 26 weeks, adding superannuation should encourage more fathers and partners to take time off work following the birth or adoption of a child, and that's important. This fosters more equality in caring roles and creates opportunities for women to participate more fully in paid employment.

In closing, on this side of the House, we know how important it is to invest in Australian women. Investing in paid parental leave, investing in superannuation is modern policy for a modern society for modern families. Those opposite seem antiquated in their attitude to the responsibilities of men and women. It's good for families and it's good for the economy, and we're proud to legislate it. And we'll wait to see what those opposite do. We know that women continue to face difficult decisions and financial penalties when choosing to raise a family. These are long-overdue changes which will help offset these penalties and lessen the impact on women's retirement savings. By investing in these reforms, we're ensuring that families can get the best out of the Paid Parental Leave scheme and exercise more choice and flexibility, and that's good for women, good for families, good for fathers and good for the economy.

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