Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before moving general business notice of motion No. 815, I ask that Senators Rice, Molan, Waters, Lambie and Askew will also sponsor the motion. At the request of Senators Keneally, Bilyk, McCarthy, Polley, Hughes, Rice, Molan, Waters, Lambie and Askew, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 15 October 2020 marks International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day,

(ii) on 15 October 2020, parents, families and friends will memorialise babies lost through miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death, and

(iii) this day is an opportunity to officially acknowledge the loss experienced by parents and families across Australia;

(b) acknowledges that in Australia:

(i) approximately one in four pregnancies result in miscarriage – 103,000 every year,

(ii) in 2018, 2,419 lives were lost due to stillbirth or newborn death,

(iii) despite medical advancements, stillbirth rates have not changed in two decades,

(iv) the rate of stillbirth and newborn death is higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and

(v) the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education tabled its report with 16 recommendations on 4 December 2018;

(c) extends condolences and sympathies to the families who have suffered a miscarriage, a stillbirth or infant death;

(d) acknowledges that social distancing restrictions – necessary during COVID-19 – have compounded the grief and sorrow for families mourning their stillborn babies; and

(e) commends every person who has supported parents and families through their journey from the loss of a baby.

Question agreed to.