Australia gets first national paid parental leave scheme | The Australian
Australia gets first national paid parental leave scheme
AUSTRALIA has its first universal paid parental leave scheme, catching up with the rest of the developed world, after the Coalition voted with the Rudd government to back the historic legislation.
The scheme passed into law by parliament today will provide 18 weeks' paid parental leave from January 1.
The opposition gave up on an amendment that would have reduced the burden on small businesses by exempting employers from having to administer the scheme.
While the trade union movement said the scheme was a victory after 30 years of campaigning, the Coalition vowed to immediately implement its own scheme if it won the next election.
The Coalition's spokeswoman for women, Sharman Stone, said the government's scheme was “not good enough and is no match for the scheme to be implemented by the Coalition when they are in office”.
“The poor-relation scheme offering only 18 weeks of the minimum wage does not go near covering the household expenses of two-income families working hard to pay their mortgage and the costs of living,” Dr Stone said.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said an 18-week scheme would be great for families and great for the economy by encouraging a higher participation rate of women in their most productive working years.
“A new national standard that gives all women the right to take a period of paid leave will also be a major benefit to maternal and child health and development”, she said.
Families Minister Jenny Macklin said it was an historic day for Australia which, along with the United States, is the only western country without a scheme.
“The passage of this legislation is a landmark reform ... and it is the result of a lot of hard work by generations of Australian men and women,” she told parliament.
“It's passage will be a tribute to each and every one of them.”
From January, eligible parents will get 18 weeks' leave, paid at the federal minimum wage which will soon be $570 a week.
To qualify for Labor's scheme, the nominated parent must work at least 330 hours in 10 of the 13 months before the child's birth or adoption, with a maximum two-month break.
And their income cannot exceed $150,000 a year.
Women who need to take time off work because of difficulties during their pregnancy will also be eligible, if they would have otherwise met the work test.
About 150,000 families are expected to qualify for the scheme that also requires employers to top it up with any program they already have in place.
Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said it was also an historic day for fathers, noting that the leave can be shared between parents.
“The paid parental leave scheme is about mums and dads,” she said.
She said 18 weeks was a good start, but the scheme should be extended to six months with extra leave for fathers.
“Until you isolate a component just for dads on a use it or lose it basis, most dads won't take any of the leave.”
Ms Broderick was also concerned that the scheme does not include superannuation, a measure the Australian Greens pushed for.
Earlier, the Greens accused the opposition of selling out families by not trying harder to secure a more generous leave scheme.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the opposition should have tried harder to put a more generous 26-week paid leave scheme in place.
“When it came to the crunch, the only thing the Coalition stood up for was business,” she told the Senate.
“It wouldn't stand up for mums and dads to provide the six months scheme with superannuation that is the minimum plan necessary to support families.”
