Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ryan, the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services. Can the minister provide the underlying assumptions for the current Paid Parental Leave scheme compared to the proposed government scheme?

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government supports all working parents and believes they should be entitled to paid leave to spend important bonding time with their newborn or newly adopted child in the early months. Under the revised PPL policy announced in the 2015-16 MYEFO, mothers with employer-paid parental leave would receive a partial payment of government funded paid parental leave up to a combined total of 18 weeks. There are currently around 170,000 recipients of government funded paid parental leave. All costings are based on the fact that any government funded paid parental leave is provided at the national minimum wage, currently set at $672.60 per week.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kakoschke-Moore, a supplementary question.

Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The media has reported that the government's proposed changes to the paid parental leave scheme could affect up to 80,000 new mothers a year. Can the minister advise how the department calculated the number of persons who are likely to miss out on payments under the government's proposed changes to the PPL scheme?

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Four per cent of families will no longer be eligible for government funded paid parental leave under the proposal. These families will already be in receipt of parental leave of 18 weeks or more from their employer. They are also more likely to be higher income earners, with the average income of the recipient being $69,000 per year. This is $26,000 more than the families who will be completely unaffected by the proposal of the government. It also does not reflect that this is the only income of the recipient as, obviously, family or household incomes can be higher.

The government does not consider it fair that a woman currently employed earning $140,000 annually, and with an entitlement of 12 weeks maternity leave paid by her employer at 100 per cent of her salary, would receive approximately $2,692 per week, which is $32,308 in total for the 12-week period, and still be entitled to the 18 weeks paid parental leave at around the national minimum wage.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kakoschke-Moore, a final supplementary question.

Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Noting that one would expect the government to have considered the impact of the paid parental leave reforms on other sectors, how were child-care places and the government's proposed child-care reforms factored into the overall paid parental leave scheme, if at all?

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I should say at some point that these are issues that I have had to deal with myself in the last couple of months. Currently, families receiving child-care benefit receive 24 hours of child care without an activity test. Therefore, they would be able to receive both paid parental leave and child-care benefits at the same time. Under the government's proposed child-care package, which is yet to be progressed through the Senate, an activity test would apply, but if you are working or on leave this would qualify as meeting the activity test.