While the participation of women in Australia’s workforce has increased significantly over the past few decades, Paid Parental Leave in Australia has been limited for many families. Access to paid maternity leave will be broadened significantly with the new Paid Parental Leave Scheme introduced in Australia, starting 1 January 2011.
Why has the Australian Government Introduced Paid Parental Leave Scheme?
Due to several reasons, including financial constraints, many parents and primary caregivers cannot take sufficient time off work to care for their newborn child.
The Paid Parental Leave scheme has been introduced by the Australian Government in order to provide working parents with financial assistance so they may spend more time at home following the birth of a newborn baby. It has also been introduced in order to help employers keep skilled and valuable staff, as one benefit of the parental leave scheme is expected to be an increase in the number of women in the workforce both prior to having children and in between pregnancies.
It is thought that increased access to paid maternity leave through Australia’s Paid Parental Leave scheme will particularly benefit low and middle income families.
What is the Paid Parental Leave Scheme in Australia?
The Paid Parental Leave Scheme is government-funded scheme which allows eligible working parents to claim 18 weeks maternity pay following the birth of a child on or after 1 January 2011. Parental Leave Pay is usually paid to the birth mother or the initial primary carer of an adoptive child, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Parental leave is paid at the National Minimum Wage, which is currently $570 per week before tax. As long as a parent is eligible for the maternity leave entitlements and meets the minimum number of working hours prior to the baby’s birth, they will still be paid the full parental leave entitlement each week.
Paid Parental Leave can be taken any time within the first year following the baby’s birth, and women who are already entitled to paid maternity leave though their workplace can take the government-funded Paid Parental Leave on top their employer's paid maternity leave.
Both Paid Parental Leave and the Baby Bonus cannot be paid to parents for the same child; however, for parents who do not meet the eligibility criteria for paid maternity leave or paternity leave under the scheme, the Baby Bonus is still an option.
What Happens to Paid Maternity Leave if Baby is Born Prior to January 1 2011?
For parents who have given birth to a newborn child prior to January 1 2011, they may still be eligible for the Baby Bonus; the Baby Bonus is currently $5,294, and is paid per eligible child in 13 equal fortnightly installments.
Paid Parental Leave is expected to be taken up by 1,000s of families around Australia each year, with around 7500 parents having lodged claims for parental leave benefits under the scheme already. Prior to introduction of the of the new paid maternity leave scheme, Australia was one of only two other countries in the western world that did not have any type of governmental-funded Paid Parental Leave scheme in place.
The Paid Parental Leave scheme is expected to benefit parents of newborn children and increase the balance between work and family life.
Sources:
Family Assistance 2009, ‘Paid Parental Leave scheme’
Craig 2010, ‘Paid parental leave the icing on the cake for new mothers’, The Age, 2 January 2011
Commonwealth of Australia 2009, ‘Australia’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme: Supporting Australian Working Families’
Christine Redmond - My interest in science and healthcare has seen me working in the laboratory with tiny cells and DNA to helping set up a cancer clinical ...
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