Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. Today the Albanese Labor government delivered on its promise and introduced a bill to pay superannuation on paid parental leave—an issue very close to my heart. The government is removing yet another financial barrier for parents, predominantly mothers, who take time out of the workforce to care for their children. With the government scheme reaching 24 weeks next year as the super payment comes online, this scheme will make a real difference to parents in retirement. Minister, can you please explain why the government has taken the decision to provide super on paid parental leave and how it will benefit Australian families?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Darmanin for her question and congratulate her on her inaugural speech yesterday; it was a wonderful speech. How appropriate it is that your first question is on paying super on PPL, which is something your union, the ASU, and your colleague and our colleague and friend Senator Linda White campaigned on for many years.

It's a very exciting day for us and all those who have been involved in the decades-long campaign to have super paid on paid parental leave. It is a workplace entitlement, and it is the only workplace entitlement that remained without superannuation being paid on it. It took a Labor government to fix that—as it always does. It always falls to Labor governments to address unfairness, to make sure that women get a fair go, to make sure that we are driving women's equality through every aspect of life, including through the time that they spend bringing up and caring for young children.

I acknowledge all of those that have been involved in the campaign to date to do that. It really reminds us of the importance of being in government and being able to implement these important reforms. With this change, eligible parents with babies born or adopted on or after 1 July 2025 will receive an additional 12 per cent of their government funded paid parental leave as a contribution to their superannuation fund. When the scheme reaches 26 weeks, as it will—another important Labor reform, to expand PPL from 20 to 26 weeks—this will see around $3,000 flow into the parent's super account. Around 180,000 families across Australia will benefit every year with extra dollars flowing into those superannuation accounts.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Darmanin, first supplementary?

Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Paid parental leave is a Labor legacy that has benefited families across the country. Paying superannuation on PPL enriches this legacy. We want to support shared care because every parent deserves the opportunity to spend time with their newborn. Our policy supports both mums and dads to take time off to care for their children. Can you please explain how Labor's paid parental leave reforms are supporting both parents?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Darmanin for the question. Again, she raises a very important point, which is about how we encourage and improve the shared care when it comes to bringing up children so that the responsibility doesn't just fall to one parent, traditionally and more often than not the mother. The reforms we've introduced to expand PPL have meant that we have introduced reserved leave so that each parent has leave that's just for them, and, by 2026, this will be four weeks each. There's flexibility so that parents can share their remaining weeks however they want. Many of the men and second parents have told us they want to be there in those early days after a baby is born. They want to set that pattern from the beginning of being a partner not an assistant to the child's mother. This is what modern families are asking for, and this is what our reforms have been able to achieve.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Darmanin, second supplementary?

Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What other measures has the Albanese Labor government taken to boost economic security for Australian women and girls since coming to government? And how are the nation's women benefiting from having a government that puts women's economic security at the centre of its decision, supported by a record number of women at the cabinet table?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, this government has made no secret of the fact that we have been driving gender equality and ensuring women's economic empowerment is strengthened in this country since our first days of government. Super on PPL is one of those reforms, obviously. Helping close the gender pay gap is another, as are the 15 per cent pay rise for aged-care workers and our announcement recently about early childhood educators. There's the fact that we've dealt with some of the problems in our IR system so that it doesn't disadvantage women or those industries where women are the predominant workers. We've banned pay secrecy, we encourage enterprise bargaining, and, of course, we reshaped the tax cuts. We know from the analysis we did then that it made much better sense not only from a fairness point of view to all taxpayers; it also improved the amount that women taxpayers were getting through those tax cuts.