Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

TH () (): I also rise today to speak on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill, and I am so proud to stand here as part of a government that has brought this legislation before us. This is the first major change to paid parental leave since the scheme was introduced by a Labor government more than a decade ago. The first tranche of reforms were groundbreaking, and they made a difference to so many families' lives. But in the years since, the need for further reform has been clear because as Australian families have changed, as more and more families are seeking to share in the beauty and challenges of parenting more equally, this legislation has not kept up. It hasn't kept up with those cultural changes happening in Australian families.

The changes in this bill are about supporting families, but they're also about supporting gender equity. The changes are about valuing fathers as carers and in some families as primary carers. They're about recognising that men aren't always the breadwinners and that women aren't always doing the majority of the caring, that families make their own decisions about the care arrangements and the work arrangements that will best suit them and their children.

This bill modernises the Paid Parental Leave scheme to reflect how Australian families and their needs have changed since its establishment over a decade ago. It does so in a number of ways. The bill combines the two existing payments into a single scheme, it reserves a portion of the scheme for each parent to support them both to take time off after a birth or adoption and it removes the notion of primary and secondary carers, making it easier for both parents to access the payment. While modest, the 'use it or lose it' provisions encourage shared care, and I hope these provisions are something that we see expanded in further iterations of the scheme and as the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce continues its work.

The bill also expands access to the scheme for families where women are primary earners by introducing a $350,000 family income test. I know a number of families who have been locked out of taking full advantage of paid parental leave because of this issue, and I welcome the fact that the bill better reflects the circumstances of more families in our community.

Most importantly, the bill represents one part of a suite of broader policy reforms that our government has embarked upon that will support the development and wellbeing of our littlest Australians. We know that the first six months of life are absolutely critical to a child's development and future wellbeing. They're critical to a child's sense of attachment to their carers and they're critical to the growth of the child, as well. Enabling families to have the opportunity to spend more time with their babies in these crucial early months is a worthy reform, and I welcome the broader policy intent of our government to bring this scheme to six months of paid leave by 2026.

As so many of us in this chamber can appreciate, the first six months with a new baby are an absolutely amazing time, full of joy and delight as each little milestone is met. But—my God!—they can be a bloody tough challenge too, full of sleeplessness and stress on the family and on women who experience birth trauma or other physical challenges like mastitis, difficulties with pelvic floor damage and the impacts of recovering from caesarean wounds—so many things which can happen in a birth as you welcome a baby into the family. The mental health challenges which many families experience, both mums and dads, in these first six months can be really significant and at times really dangerous. A new baby changes family dynamics with other children. It can make more difficult your other caring responsibilities, including for elderly parents. It affects the family dynamic. So while it can be and is a time of miracles and wonder and joy and awe, it can also be really tough. It shouldn't be the case that the only families in our community who are given the time, space and security to deal with all of these things that happen in the first six months of a child's life are those who can afford to do so.

Bringing this scheme progressively to six months is a very, very significant reform. It's something that we can be proud of; it's something that I am proud of as a Labor senator to be part of another Labor reforming government. In fact, it's why we joined the Labor Party and why we stand for Labor. We want to be part of governments that do something to deliver for families and that keep reforming. That's what this bill does.

I want to acknowledge the work of the many, many activists in our community, the union movement, the formidable men and women of our union movement, who have been calling for these reforms for many, many decades before they've been introduced and continue to lead the fight to greater equality. I also want to acknowledge the businesses in our community who stood up early and came out and said, 'This makes good economic sense as well as good social sense.' To those businesses that are at the forefront of many of these changes, I acknowledge your work, too. As chair of the Community Affairs Legislation Committee, which looked into this legislation, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who contributed to our inquiry through submissions or through appearing before us and giving their evidence.

We were very happy to support this bill and to commend it to the Senate. I know there is more work to do in these reforms; there's much more work we can do to make life better for Australian families, for mums and dads and, critically, for their children. That's why I'm part of the Labor Party. That's why I'm proud to be part of a Labor government, because we will do that work from these benches. That's why we're here. I commend the bill to the Senate.