Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on its budget commitment to provide a more modern, more flexible and more generous Paid Parental Leave scheme?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Corangamite, as a passionate advocate for families in her electorate, for her question. I know that she'll be following this very closely.

Improving paid parental leave was one of the most frequent proposals raised at the Jobs and Skills Summit, which this government held in September. It brought together unions and businesses, who really articulated the importance of improving paid parental leave. Of course, the Albanese government is now delivering on that. We are delivering a half-a-billion-dollar investment, announced in the October budget, to expand the scheme to six months by 2026. We wasted no time in delivering this commitment, introducing legislation in November 2022 to fix paid parental leave so it's right for the times and right for the future.

The legislation, currently before the House, implements the first stage of the government's changes from 1 July 2023. Each year, 180,000 families will benefit from a stronger and more generous Paid Parental Leave scheme. The current scheme does not have enough access for dads and partners. It limits flexibility for parents to choose how they take leave and transition back to work. And the eligibility rules are unfair to families where the mother is the high-income earner. Our legislation fixes this. It gives more families access to the payment, provides parents with more flexibility in how they take leave, and encourages them to share the care to support gender equality.

From the 1 July 2023 we will move to a single payment scheme to allow all parents to access government paid leave at the same time as their employer paid leave. This will help families maintain their income while caring for a newborn. We'll also expand eligibility with a more generous household income test of $350,000, which will give more families access to the payment. We will encourage parents to share care, with an easier claiming process that allows either parent to take leave first and removes the assumptions about mothers and fathers being primary and secondary carers. Parents will also be able to take leave in a way that works for them.

On 1 July 2024 we'll add two additional weeks to the scheme each year until it reaches 26 weeks, and, to ensure we're on track, we've got the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce consulting with parents, families and the community to make sure that we've got the expansion to 26 weeks right.

We are delivering on our plan for a better future for families, a fairer future for families and a stronger Australia.