David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

At this stage, I will not be moving my amendments, after some discussions with the government. I have raised the concerns around the burden that this is going to place on small businesses. I accept that there is an argument for medium and large businesses to maintain the interaction and the connection between the employer and the employee in administering PPL. In my discussions with small businesses, small tweaks to payroll can result in not insignificant time. Even a half hour, an hour or two extra hours to do payroll adds up if you are a small business. In 2010, this was raised by small business groups and small businesses. In 2014, there was a Senate committee hearing on this, and it was raised again.

I don't understand why we can't address this. What I'm proposing to government is 12 months to set up a system where small businesses can opt in or opt out of this requirement, to give them the flexibility. Should they be topping up PPL, as some small businesses are, and they want to administer it then they should be able to do that. They shouldn't be forced into a situation where they have to take on this extra administrative burden, particularly as we begin to increase paid parental leave in Australia, which I'm fully supportive of. The evidence is so clear that this a good thing for children, for parents, for families and for our community. This is something that I really would like dealt with by the government. I would like small businesses to be heard. And I would really like to know from the government and the department, in coming up with these changes, which small businesses and small business peak bodies were consulted.