When I became pregnant with my first child it was in the halycon days of the Whitlam government, I was a government employee - and the envy of all my pregnant friends. I had 8 months leave on 1/2 pay... 3 months maternity leave on half pay and 1 month's rec leave on half pay. It made all the difference to me as a new mum, to getting to know my baby and to my partner who was able to continue to grow his new business without worrying too much about the dollars.
In September 2008 the Rudd government's Productivity Commission announced its recommendations for paid parental leave. They recommended 18 weeks leave to mothers and 2 weeks to fathers at $544 a week. This money would be paid by the person's employer who would be reimbursed by the Government - employees would also be required to pay superannuation. The Baby Bonus of $384 per fortnight, currently goes to all mothers whose combined taxable income for the 6 months following the birth of their baby is $75,000. This would become a Maternity Allowance and would only be paid to unemployed women.
Australia and the United States are the only two OECD countries who do not pay parental leave. In Canada women receive 50 weeks leave, in the UK its 39 weeks, other European countries generously give 18 months - Sweden being one. Even poor African nations such as Tanzania give 14 weeks paid maternity leave.
Getup is currently running a campaign to push the Government into introducing parental leave as they promised. So if you feel strongly about now is your chance to sign up.
If you need to know more about parental leave and the benefits it has for everyone - including employers read Getup's fact sheet - it is excellent.
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