Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (11) on sheet 6111:

(11)  Page 233 (after line 7), after Division 3, insert:

Division 3A—Review of Act

301A  Review of operation of Act

        (1)    The Minister must cause a review of the Act to be conducted by an independent panel.

        (2)    The review must:

             (a)    start not later than 1 October 2012; and

             (b)    be completed within 3 months.

        (3)    The review must report on:

             (a)    the operation of the Act; and

             (b)    the options for extending the PPL period; and

             (c)    the options for including concurrent paid partner leave; and

             (d)    the options for payment of superannuation in connection with PPL; and

             (e)    the impact of the Act on pre-existing entitlements; and

              (f)    collective bargaining outcomes as they relate to paid parental leave schemes; and

             (g)    any other matters considered relevant.

        (4)    The panel must give the Minister must a written report of the review.

        (5)    The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of receiving the report.

I was going to announce that I would be withdrawing this amendment based on the fact that the postponed amendment from the government deals with it. The third issue that the government has picked up on that the Greens have been talking about is the importance of having a legislated review of the scheme. I am thankful that the government has taken this on board. I hesitate to withdraw this amendment because I would hate to think that tomorrow morning we might come back and the government’s amendment has changed. I seek leave to postpone Greens amendment (11) on sheet 6111.

Leave granted.

I move Greens amendment (12) on sheet 6111:

(12)  Page 233 (after line 7), after Division 3, insert:

Division 3B—Data on the impact of PPL

301B  Publication of data on the impact of PPL

        (1)    The Secretary must publish information on the following:

             (a)    the number of people receiving PPL instalments;

             (b)    the number of people paid instalments:

                   (i)    by employers; and

                  (ii)    by the Secretary;

             (c)    PPL periods.

        (2)    The Secretary must routinely consult with Fair Work Australia on bargaining outcomes in enterprise agreements with respect to paid parental leave schemes and publish a report on those consultations, including information about the extent to which enterprise agreements contain additional paid parental leave entitlements and changes to those bargaining outcomes over time.

        (3)    Information required to be published under this section to must be:

             (a)    updated at least every 6 months, not later than 31 December and 30 June each year; and

             (b)    published on the department’s website.

This amendment goes to the fact that we want some data collected through this process so that once the review happens we have access to data to see how this scheme has impacted on workplaces, women who have taken the leave and parents who have access to the scheme, and we ensure that we can track how the scheme is rolling out. There have been a lot of comments made about the fact that this scheme is not perfect; that it is a block which needs to be built upon. The best way of us ensuring that we get that right is to have an audit of the issues it faces.

Progress reported.

Ordered that the committee have leave to sit again on the next day of sitting.