Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How will Australian families, and particularly Australian women, benefit from the government's paid parental leave changes which passed parliament this week?

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

I'd like to thank the member for Werriwa for that question and, on this International Women's Day, recognise her fierce advocacy, over many years, not just for women in her electorate, but right across Australia. Of course, improving paid parental leave is a critical reform. It's critical for families, it's critical for women and it's critical for the economy. We know that when done right paid parental leave can advance gender equality and grow the economy. New modelling from Impact Economics and Policy shows that the establishment of the paid parental leave scheme under Labor in 2011 resulted in nearly 75,000 more mothers joining the workforce and added $8.5 billion to our GDP.

Paid parental leave is a proud Labor legacy and the Albanese government is building on this legacy. Paid parental leave reform was the centrepiece of our first budget, where we invested half a billion dollars into a fairer, more flexible and more generous scheme. We know what happens when both parents are not supported to take time off work to care for young children. Usually mums work much less or leave the workforce altogether while dads remain in full-time work. This pattern persists for years after a child's birth and is a key driver of the gender pay gap.

We heard the messages loud and clear at our very successful Jobs and Skills Summit in September where gender equality and economic growth went hand in hand. Businesses, unions, gender experts and economists all understand that one of the best ways to boost productivity and participation is to provide more choice and more support to families and more opportunity for women. Shared parenting is critical to advance gender equality and our changes mean that from 1 July this year it will be much easier for both parents to access paid parental leave and share care. After 10 years of policy stagnation from those opposite we lag behind other OECD countries.

This government has made investing in paid parental leave a priority, giving more families access to the payment and expanding it to a full six months by 2026. A paid parental leave scheme that empowers the full and equal participation of women will be good for business, good for families and good for our economy. Gender equality is at the heart of this government's agenda. This is just one measure of many that we are delivering to Australian families and Australian women.