Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters) Share this | Hansard source

I table a supplementary explanatory memorandum relating to the government amendments to be moved to this bill, and—by leave—I move government amendments on sheet PP105 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 2), omit the table item, substitute:

(2) Schedule 2, item 1, page 54 (line 6), omit "1 April 2020", substitute "1 July 2020".

(3) Schedule 2, item 2, page 54 (lines 10 to 14), omit subitem (1), substitute:

(1) The amendments of the PPL Act made by Schedule 1 to this Act do not apply in relation to a claim for parental leave pay for a child made before the commencement day.

(4) Schedule 2, item 2, page 54 (line 16), omit "1 July 2020", substitute "the commencement day".

(5) Schedule 2, item 3, page 55 (lines 16 to 20), omit subitem (1), substitute:

(1) The PPL Act, as amended by Schedule 1 to this Act, applies in relation to a claim for parental leave pay for a child made on or after the commencement day.

(6) Schedule 2, item 3, page 55 (lines 23 to 25), omit "1 July 2020, the amendments of the PPL Act made by the following items of Schedule 1 to this Act are taken, on and after the day on which the child is born,", substitute "the commencement day, the amendments of the PPL Act made by the following items of Schedule 1 to this Act are taken".

(7) Schedule 2, item 3, page 56 (line 5), omit "is born", substitute "was born".

Parents are able to make a claim for paid parental leave up to three months before the expected date of birth or adoption. The bill originally had a provision for prebirth claiming between 1 April 2020 and 1 July 2020 to ensure the claims could be made in the three months leading up to the commencement date. Due to COVID-19 and the change to the parliamentary sitting schedule, it was not possible to have this bill pass the parliament before 1 April. The start date of the changes has not moved from 1 July; however, prebirth claims will also only be possible from 1 July 2020 instead of the intended date of 1 April 2020.