Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services: how will the Albanese Labor government's paid parental leave changes increase support to working families after nearly a decade of policy stagnation?

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

I thank the member for Adelaide for his question and his advocacy for families in his electorate. Earlier this month the government's paid parental leave legislation passed the parliament. Now from 1 July over 180,000 families each year will benefit from a stronger and improved Paid Parental Leave scheme. Families can now start pre-claiming under the more generous means-testing provisions and the more flexible arrangements. We know raising children and managing work is a juggle for many Australian families. We also know it's a time when there are lots of bills to pay and families need all the help they can get. Our changes means from 1 July this year not only will more parents have access to the government payment but they'll also have more flexibility in how they transition back to work. Of course, by 2026 our government will have expanded paid parental leave to allow parents to take six months of government paid parental leave. This approach has been backed by a range of organisations, such as Minderoo Thrive by Five, who said a more generous Paid Parental Leave scheme will benefit parents, infants, employers, employees and the Australian economy. In response to the inquiry into the government's changes to PPL, the Australian Institute of Family Studies said:

Ensuring that all parents have access to paid parental leave is important, to provide parents with options at the birth or adoption of a child.

Chief Executive Women welcomed the expansion of paid parental leave as beneficial for women, for families, for children and for the economy.

Our significant investment helps make up for the nine years of wasted time by those opposite. As a result of the nine years of coalition government neglect, Australia's Paid Parental Leave scheme lagged behind the rest of the OECD. But the intention of those opposite when the government went beyond just neglect. The Leader of the Opposition would know all too well about that, as he was a cabinet minister in the coalition government that tried to cut the entitlements for thousands of families to access both government paid parental leave and their workplace entitlement. In the 2015-16 budget those opposite tried to end what they insultingly called double-dipping, when mothers rightfully claimed both their workplace and government entitlements. This is a disgrace. Paid parental leave is a proud Labor legacy, and the Albanese government is building and expanding on that legacy. We will not cut it.