Budget 2009 for paid parental leave
Drawing on national consultations with women, NFAW has identified that Australian women strongly support immediate introduction of a national scheme of paid parental leave and welcomes news of action to be taken by the Federal Government to stimulate the economy, as this provides an ideal opportunity to announce that paid parental leave will be included in the 2009/10 budget.
Releasing the NFAW submission to the Productivity Commission on the Commission's draft recommendations, the Chair of the Foundation's Social Policy Committee, Ms Marie Coleman PSM has welcomed the statement by the Finance Minister that a second stimulatory financial package may be needed by June 2009.
" The Commission's draft recommendations have been costed at a net 2% increase over current Government outlays on family-related payments, and the proposed scheme is clearly focused on giving the greatest benefits to low income families in the workforce- precisely those for whom a targeted financial stimulus would be immediately and maximally effective" Ms Coleman said.
"In addition, such a stimulus would have considerable benefits in enhancing work-force attachment and consequent overall work-force productivity.
" In the case of a working family where the mother gives birth, and they find that one of the two working parents has through the financial down-turn been forced from the work-force, access to the proposed eighteen weeks Adult Minimum Wage payment for whichever parent continues to be the principle carer would be particularly valuable and would have an immediate impact on family purchasing power" she said.
"The NFAW, in association with Security for Women, has just completed a nation-wide consultation round with women and their organisations, and our Submission provides a short summary and analysis of some of their views.
"Australian women are strongly supportive of the immediate introduction of a national scheme for paid parental leave, along the lines of the Commission's recommendations. Failure by the Government to introduce the national scheme would lead to massive public disappointment' Ms Coleman added.
"Our submission makes some specific suggestions for enhancements of some aspects of the Commission's draft recommendations, including on further encouraging indigenous work-force attachment. We also note the need to ensure that women returning to the work-force on a part-time basis after a pregnancy are not inadvertently made ineligible for a second period of paid parental leave should they become pregnant again within a twelve month time-frame.
"We also recommend the introduction of a specific cash payment by Government to very small enterprises to assist them with the costs of recruiting and training replacement staff for the parent taking eighteen weeks parental leave.
"Other recommendations include closer attention to the inter-relationships of a paid parental leave policy with other policies such as the National Employment Standards (NES), access to good quality affordable care for children under school age, and for good quality affordable age-appropriate care for school age children of working parents'.
Media contact: Marie Coleman