Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022, and I am really proud to do so, because paid parental leave is another strong and critical Labor legacy. We first implemented paid parental leave back in 2011, and today we are building on those strong foundations to modernise the scheme, to make it more flexible for two parents to provide care, and to consolidate the current entitlement—of 18 weeks parental leave plus two weeks partner leave—into a single 20-week scheme. It's a legacy that will improve the lives of Australian families.

Of course, there's more to come, because this is a first step in the Albanese government's plan to move to expand paid parental leave in Australia. We will bring forward more legislation, starting in July 2024, to phase in an additional six weeks, until we reach 26 weeks in 2026—a full six months of paid parental leave. This is the largest expansion of paid parental leave since we established the scheme more than 10 years ago.

These are the types of reforms that make me proud to be a Labor senator. These are reforms that we've laid the foundations for, that we protect, that we build on, that we sustain and that, over time, become entrenched and treasured parts of Australia's social and economic fabric. These are reforms that Labor governments get done—reforms like Medicare; reforms like the NDIS; reforms like quality, affordable education in the early years, and expanded access to TAFE and higher education. These are reforms that Labor governments deliver and that we deliver in a way that is sustainable in the long-term.

Paid parental leave is widely supported across the community, and this particular bill is supported by the ACTU and by the BCA and many other groups. And the bill is not controversial. In two-parent families, it provides each parent with two weeks of leave, and the rest can be shared as suits the family, up to 20 weeks. It can be taken by two parents at the same time. It can be taken in flexible blocks. And it can be taken across the first two years of a child's life. Importantly, single parents will be eligible for the full 20 weeks. In two-parent families, the bill resolves outdated assumptions which meant that, in some cases, women were unable to take the larger portion of parental leave because they were the higher earner in the family. Combining what is currently 18 weeks parental leave, mostly targeted at mums, with the two-week partner pay, mostly targeted at dads, just makes good sense.

It is now urgent that this bill passes the Senate this month. That is so that parents expecting to give birth or adopt on or after 1 July 2023 have the option of pre-claiming three months in advance so that they can receive their entitlements as soon as they are eligible. So it's urgent that we pass this reform.

Expanding paid parental leave is part of our vision for greater gender equality and for a stronger economy, and we know that those two things go hand in hand. We know that families, and women in particular, need support to balance their caring and work responsibilities, and we know that, when parents have the support they need to move in and out of the labour market as their children's needs change, it's good for everyone. It's good for families; it's good for parents; it's good for employers; it's good for productivity; it's good for the economy as a whole. And it's good for dads. This approach that we're bringing in in this bill gives dads and partners more options for sharing in the care, including by making sure that they can be on paid leave, if they're eligible for it through work, while they also receive their take-it-or-leave-it two weeks of the scheme.

It's important to note that the government's scheme is not designed to replace employer schemes. Indeed, we encourage employers to keep paving the way and providing greater paid parental leave for their employees. The government's scheme is a foundation for employers to build on, to make sure that they can attract and retain fantastic employees who become parents, and help maintain strong incomes over the life course.

We know that, when dads can take a greater caring role from the start, that can often lead to greater involvement in their children's lives in years to come. That, in turn, helps women to balance their own work and care as well, to keep up their own participation in the labour market and improve their own economic security. Paid parental leave is also, of course, fundamentally good for mums, allowing them to spend time in the crucial early days and weeks of their child's life, which we know is good for both maternal and child health.

To sum up, this is a bill that meets the needs of the modern Australian family and the modern Australian economy, and there is more to come from the Albanese Labor government. This is a smart, flexible approach to providing care and support for children after birth or adoption. It's an investment in gender equality and in productivity. It's another proud Labor legacy as we build up to six months paid parental leave. I am proud to support this bill.