Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As we give consideration to the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023, we should look not only at the important changes that have taken place to make it possible for women and families to get fair economic outcomes but also at the context of paid parental leave as an overarching strategy by the government to make sure that we lift and give to women opportunities that haven't been experienced before—and, I'd also say, lift opportunities that haven't been experienced by men as well. I know, as a father, that my wife did most of the caring—that was the arrangement we made—but I think of the opportunities that I had at various points to care for my children in their early years. It gave me a great opportunity to bond with my children that my father and my grandfather didn't contemplate. This is an opportunity to build a more cohesive family unit, and that's one of the things that particularly makes this bill attractive to me. As well as adding the important aspect of equity and fairness, and lifting up opportunities for women, this proposal also gives the family unit a benefit.

When we're looking at issues particularly with the undue pressure that occurs quite often on women, some of the strides ahead we've made include the gender pay gap—which has fallen by 2.1 per cent since this government came to office—and making sure that pay secrecy clauses, that really impact on women, are overridden. Multi-employer bargaining and low-paid bargaining is another area that the opposition say they don't support, and is no doubt one of those areas that they plan on taking out of the industrial relations system. It gives particularly low-paid, largely feminised industries not only a more fair and reasonable bargaining position but more fair and reasonable market opportunities for employees who want to do the right thing. Doing the right thing across the market is the right thing not just for employees but for those companies that want to make sure they have a sustainable workforce. Particularly in feminised industries that have been highly undervalued, that opportunity means we lift many, many women in those feminised industries along with other cohorts of people working in that sector. Gig work is another example where people are disempowered, going to the circumstances many women find in those particular roles in gig work. Much of our economic agenda is targeted to delivering better wages, better conditions and better opportunities for women, and it's good to see that this work is making a meaningful change.

Through the Jobs and Skills Summit and the employment white paper, the government heard loud and clear that supporting families to balance care is critical to ensuring women long-term economic equality. That is why we've introduced this bill to amend the Paid Parental Leave Act—to provide a more generous PPL scheme. The bill will support maternal health and wellbeing, encourage both parents to take leave and give families flexibility to choose how they share and care. The PPL scheme provides payments to eligible working parents and carers, and changes contained in this bill will benefit over 180,000 families each year; that's a lot of Australians that are going to be in a better position as a result of this bill.

The bill will expand the paid parental leave scheme in stages—to 22 weeks from 1 July 2024, to 24 weeks from 1 July 2025 and to the full 26 weeks from 1 July 2026. Reforms will mean that there is an easier claiming process that will allow either parent to be the primary claimant, that parents will be able to take weeks of leave at the same time so they can spend time at home together with their children, and that there will be better access to paid leave for parents whose partners do not meet residency requirements. Under the current measures, if a family wants to share parental leave the birth mother must claim PPL first and then transfer it to the other parent. This is administratively complex and burdensome for parents and can be complex for businesses as well. This degree of simplicity being brought to the system also goes to a point that those who are suggesting amendments for direct payments for small business should be mindful of—that the burdensome administrative complexity has been lessened as part of the frame of this bill.

Dads and partners who meet residency requirements would also be supported to receive PPL in circumstances where the birth mother does not meet the waiting period requirement for newly arrived residents. A total of 1,500 families are set to benefit from this change. It's funny: we talk about figures in this place, but 1,500: is it a great amount, or is it not? I can say to anyone here that if you're one of those 1,500 then it makes a difference to the opportunities it gives to you and your family and to the cherished child. This means that there are 1,500 more families that have been helped by a decision we make here. These are some life-changing, like-developing changes.

The bill also will increase the number of paid parental leave days that a family is able to take together, at the same time, to four weeks. This will increase flexibility for families and support parents to take time off together after a birth. These changes reflect the additional advice on PPL sought by government from the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce and represent the largest investment in PPL since the scheme was introduced in 2011. In preparing its advice, the task force was informed by broad consultation across member networks, briefings from relevant government departments and the commissioning of research from Professor Marian Baird and Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill.

At the committee inquiry into the bill we heard from organisations who were supportive of its objective to empower women and strengthen community wellbeing. The committee received 24 submissions and held a public hearing in Canberra on 23 January 2024. Women's Legal Services Australia, or WLSA, said the bill 'will make the scheme more flexible, accessible and supportive of gender equality, women's participation in the workforce and shared parenting'. The Northern Territory Working Women's Centre said the bill is a 'greatly welcome development in providing support and financial security for families'. The Parenthood, an advocacy organisation representing parents and carers, expressed support for this bill's overdue and welcome reform to the PPL scheme and described it as a 'commendable step towards supporting Australian families'. Ms Helen Dalley-Fisher, Convenor of the Equal Rights Alliance, testified at the hearing that 'the bill will promote women's economic security and women's participation in the workforce' and 'it will also promote redistribution of care work between the genders, which is critical for this bill'.

But all this support for the bill from stakeholders hasn't stopped some of the negativity from those opposite. We've heard from coalition senators this week that changes to the scheme create disputation in workplaces, and this is distinguished because the PPL scheme does not alter existing employer-provided paid or unpaid leave entitlements. This is a critical point. When looking at the exemption of small business in considerations for that amendment, evidence was given by a number of parental gurus about the importance of making sure that for all business, in particular small business, that has a competent employed person who goes on to parental leave, the contact remains between that worker and the employer.

I'm looking forward to further debate about the exemption for small business, because it's an exemption that breaks that connection that's so important in making sure that not only is the person who's on leave engaged but also there's encouragement, desire and a process of constant engagement by the employer. That includes in small business, where it's so essential for those skills to be brought back into the workplace and be celebrated when those workers return to the work environment. The government-funded parental leave pay is a minimum entitlement designed to complement employer-provided leave. That connection is already here, and disconnecting that connection is a dangerous thing, which was pointed out by many of those who gave evidence during the inquiry and a number of groups of small business workforces represented by women's organisations.

According to the Department of Social Services, 61.8 per cent of employers in Australia offer access to parental leave in addition to the government scheme. With this bill, the Albanese government is getting on with the job. The bill goes hand in hand with the government's other measures to improve women's economic security and workforce participation and support gender equality. The first tranche of changes was enacted under the Paid Parental Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Act 2023. Key changes included expanding the paid parental leave maximum entitlement from 18 weeks to 20 weeks by absorbing dad and partner pay; replacing the requirement for the birth parent to claim parental leave pay first; removing the requirement for 12 weeks of parental leave pay to be taken in one consecutive block; introducing a reserved 'use it or lose it' period of two weeks of parental leave pay for each parent; and expanding scheme eligibility by introducing a family income limit of $350,000, which can apply if the person does not meet the individual income limit. In her second reading speech, Minister Rishworth said:

Not only will our changes help families better balance work and care; they will also support participation and productivity over the longer term, providing a dividend for the Australian economy.

When men and women are encouraged to share their caring responsibilities in their child's early years, it means that women can come back into the workforce faster—and so can men, ultimately. The bill will have a noticeable impact on the gender pay gap and the gap in superannuation savings of women later in life. Research from the Australia Institute's Centre for Future of Work highlights that women have significantly less money saved for their retirement. Based on median income data, Australian women earn $136,000 less in super over their working lives than their male counterparts do. Of course, work still needs to be done on making sure that we get a fairer and more equitable system for women in the workforce.

Investing in paid parental leave is vital to the economy, as it helps maintain the participation of women within the workforce. More women getting back into the workforce will contribute to the filling of skills shortages across the economy in large, medium and small businesses—and I emphasise the importance of keeping the connection to small businesses, along with medium and large. We know that if we don't do that it will be a handbrake on productivity. The submission of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the committee inquiry into the bill's provisions said:

With such a tight labour market prevailing in the current economic conditions, Australian businesses and communities cannot afford to have more employees leave the workforce.

We in the Albanese Labor government are delivering on our commitment to delivering more support for working families, improving outcomes for children, and advancing gender equality.