Paid maternity leave
During the 2007 election, NFAW campaigned to introduce paid maternity/parental leave in Australia, supporting the right of women not to have to work when they have a new baby. Specifically, they asked for the following:
- Establish an expert committee to examine and advise on the options to achieve a cost-effective universal system of paid maternity and parental leave for Australian families;
- Publish the report of the expert committee and
- Implement the recommendations of the expert committee within two years.
The current government has now asked the the Productivity Commission to look at the economic and social costs and benefits of paid maternity, paternity and parental leave.
The Commission will conduct a thorough examination and provide an opportunity for public participation. The Commission will be asked to report by February 2009. Public hearings will be held and submissions from the public will also be sought, with a report produced for the Government to release publicly.
If you wish to make a submission, or just be kept informed about the inquiry's progress, you can contact the Productivity Commission:
Public Inquiry into Improved Support for Parents with Newborn Children
NFAW submission to the Productivity Commission
In its formal submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into paid maternity, paternity and parental leave, NFAW recommends:
- A minimum period of six month paid maternal leave
- Income replacement, rather than a minimalist welfare payment
- Four weeks paid paternal leave (at paternal wage level)
- Financing through a mix of Government, employer and employee contributions, comparable to the financing of retirement incomes.
An independent costing by the University of Newcastle of such a scheme, based on the model prepared by Julia Perry, shows that:
- In addition to the current Baby Bonus, costs would be in a range of 0.7% - 0.8% of the current wage bill. These costs could be shared between employers and employees
- The costing included costs of payroll tax, superannuation, workers' compensation and training costs
- The costing did not take into account increased savings to Government, nor the benefits to employers of retaining skilled staff and increasing labour force participation.
International comparisons
| Australia | 1 year unpaid parental leave |
| Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal Slovak Republic, Spain Sweden, Turkey, UK | Statutory entitlement to maternity leave, paid at more than 50% of earnings (in most cases up to a ceiling) |
| USA | No national entitlements, but California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island provide payments. |
Maternity/parental leave milestones in Australia
| 1973 | Paid maternity leave introduced for Commonwealth public servants (12 weeks plus 40 weeks unpaid leave) under the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1973. This was intended to be a ‘pace-setter’ to be emulated by the private sector. |
| 1979 | The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission handed down the Maternity Leave Test Case providing Australian employees with the right to 52 weeks unpaid maternity leave. This has continued in subsequent forms of Australian Industrial Relations legislation. |
| 1979 | The United Nations General Assembly accepted the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) resulting in an international discussion of a right to paid maternity leave as a fundamental human right. |
| 1980 | Australia signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - CEDAW (ratified in 1983). |
| 1984 | Federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Commonwealth): reflecting Australia’s international obligations under CEDAW and ILO Convention 1958 (ILO No 111), both of which denote the importance of a workplace free from discrimination. |
| 1999 | HREOC recognises the importance of paid maternity leave to Australian women and recommends a review of funding options to assess the viability and consequences of introducing a national scheme in its report . |
| 2000 | The ILO revised the Maternity Protection Convention, recommending 14 weeks paid leave, two weeks longer than the standard set in 1952. Australia, New Zealand and the USA were the only ILO countries that refused to ratify this convention. |
| 2002 | Unpaid parental leave in Australia was extended to cover casual employees (previously legislated in NSW and Queensland) |
| 2002 | New Zealand introduced paid parental leave. |
| 2002 | HREOC recommended Government fund a national paid maternity leave scheme |
| 2004 | Australian government introduced the one-off Maternity Payment of $3,000 to replace Maternity Allowance and the Baby Bonus. |
| 2006 | The Maternity Payment was increased to $4,000. |
| 2007 | HREOC recommended a national paid maternity leave scheme be funded by the federal Government |
Results of the Newspoll paid maternity leave study
| Are you in favour of paid maternity leave? | YES | 78% men and 75% of women |
| YES | 89% of 18-24 year olds | |
| YES | 77% of 25-34 year olds | |
| Are you in favour of funding for a paid maternity leave scheme being shared between Australian employers, workers and the Federal Government | YES | 80% of men and 76% of women |
| YES | 84% of 18-34 year olds | |
| YES | 79% of married people and 76% of people not married | |
| YES | 80% of people in full-time employment | |
| YES | 78% of people not employed at all | |
| Do you agree that the most important thing for a baby in its first year of life is to have the full-time care of at least one parent | YES | 93% men and 93% of women |
| YES | 93% 18-34 year olds | |
| YES | 95% 50+ year olds | |
| YES | 93% of married people and 94% of people not married | |
| Do you agree that more needs to be done in Australia so that mothers can spend more time with their newborn babies | YES | 85% men and 84% of women |
| YES | 88% 18-34 year olds | |
| YES | 85% people in full-time employment | |
| YES | 86% of people not employed at all | |
| Do you agree that financial pressure means that many new mothers have to return to work too soon after having a baby | YES | 81% of men and 84.4% of women |
| YES | 84% of 18-34 year olds | |
| YES | 86% of 35-49 year olds | |
| YES | 86% of people in full-time employment | |
| YES | 78% of people not employed at all |