Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is known as Equal Pay Day. This is a theoretical day, basically 50 days into the new financial year. This is the number of additional days Australian women must work to earn the same as men did last financial year, on average. These are the stats, and it's a tangible way to demonstrate what we need to do to close the gender gap. This is exactly what the Labor government is working on. One of the ways we're doing this is through our historic expansion of paid parental leave. From 1 July, parents will receive 22 weeks of paid parental leave up from 20. This scheme will continue to expand each year until it reaches 26 weeks in 2026. That's when families will receive around $24,000 in government-funded paid parental leave. This means more support for parents to take out time to care for their newborn child. Labor's changes will benefit around 180,000 Australian families each year. In my electorate of Swan, nearly 2,000 people received paid parental leave last year. That's 2,000 families and children in Swan that benefited from greater choice, security and flexibility from balancing work and care. Working shouldn't be a barrier to caring, and parenting shouldn't be a barrier to working.