Australia is getting closer to world-class paid parental leave

I’ve long thought about the parents in Nordic countries, where childcare is affordable, and lengthy and generously paid stints of government-paid parental are simply part of family life.

It’s hard not to consider how different your family’s economic situation could be with such opportunities — particularly (in my case) in the lead-up to having each of my three children and preparing to take 18 weeks at the minimum wage. I recall feeling grateful at the time, that I’d just managed to scrap on in, following the introduction of such leave during the Gillard government in 2011. Later, I recall grappling with how to not officially work while taking such leave — despite being one of the numerous new mothers running their own business that can’t really continue with “no work”, and being unable to afford a full replacement.

In Sweden, single parents receive 480 days of paid parental leave on bringing a new child into their lives, while two-parent families receive 240 days each, with part (but importantly, not all) of the remaining leave able to be transferred between the two parents. Fathers now take 30% of all parental leave in Sweden.

Over in Norway, which became the first country in the world to specifically reserve paid parental leave for new fathers, new parents can access 49 weeks at 100 per cent of their pay, with 15 weeks reserved for dads on a use it or lose it basis.

Australia is a long way from such world-class paid parental leave, with the 18 weeks at minimum wage offered to new mothers, and the two weeks offered for “Dad and Partner Pay” (which many new fathers simply don’t bother taking), despite some minor tweaks around the edges over the past few years.

But that could be set to change.

From the ACTU calling for paid parental leave to be increased to 52 weeks by the year 2030, to pressure from the independents and the Greens, we haven’t heard this much about significant paid parental leave reform since former prime minister Tony Abbott was pushing to offer six month’s of leave at full pay to an annual salary of $150,000.

And even Abott has has stepped back into the conversation today, declaring that he “was right on paid parental leave” in comments shared with The Australian Financial Review. At the time, then PM Kevin Rudd declared: “$75,000 for millionaires to have a baby. How is that fair Tony?”

There have been no significant reform promises made by the Albanese government, but the push is strong — and coming from numerous places.

It’s going to be difficult for this new Labor government to ignore the calls.

From the ACTU, the push has come from outlining figures showing Australia could generate an additional $111 billion a year by addressing the gender pay gap and women’s workforce participation. They highlighted paid parental leave as a key way to get there, pushing for an increase to 52 weeks by 2030, and more immediately humping to 26 weeks.

From advocacy groups like The Parenthood, it’s the push to make Australia “the best place in the world to be a parent” by legislating for 12 months of paid parental leave that is equally shared — at an investment of $7.6 billion that could be far outweighed by the additional GDP that could result from higher female participation.

Meanwhile, on Monday, independent MPs including Zali Steggall and Zoe Daniel announced they will push the Albanese government to expand the current 18-week leave scheme to 26 weeks, with Steggall to introduce a motion in the House of Representatives.

In the Senate, the Greens have introduced their own bill to reform the system — pushing for six weeks of leave to be reserved for each parent and an additional 14 weeks leave to be used by the family however they want (amounting to 26 weeks in total), paid at a replacement wage, and capped at $100,000 a year. Senator Larissa Waters described the reform as a “no-brainer that benefits everyone — parents, children and the economy”, and said it will provide more incentives and support for families to share the care. The Greens want to scrap the controversial Stage 3 tax cuts to pay for it.

We haven’t heard this much talk about paid parental leave in years. Not since Tony Abbott shared strong ambitions for reform — although his plans were fundamentally flawed in that they did not address the essential requirement to incentivise more shared care. The Abbott-led conversation also had unfortunate consequences that may have overall damaged further debate on the issue.

Is Australia finally set to quit tinkering around the edges and introduce real paid parental leave reform? We’re inching closer — and what is being proposed could put us much closer to world leaders, and ultimately close the massive gap Australia boasts between women’s economic attainment (we are number one amount OECD nations) and women’s workforce participation.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.