Changes Flagged For Parental Leave

Dads may get access 20 weeks of paid parental leave, under a plan being proposed by the federal government.

It would give men the ability to take time off work over the first two years of their baby’s life, with the leave funded by the federal government, The Australian has reported.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says she’s keen to begin talks about how the needs of Australian families can best be met.

“Society has changed. A lot more men do want to play a role. And a lot of men do say they want to be the primary caregiver for some period of time.”

The current parental leave system gives the primary caregiver, which is generally mums, 18 weeks of leave paid based on the minimum wage. Men are entitled to two weeks of partner pay.

Dad and newborn

Executive director of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, says while the commitment to a more flexible parental leave scheme is welcome, parents should ideally have access to an extra 20 weeks of paid parental leave (a total of 40), that can be shared as they need.

“For context, in the OECD, the average length of paid leave that’s available for families is 50 weeks,” Georgie told Yahoo Finance.

“Australia has got a lot of ground to make up in terms of offering and encouraging fathers to share the care and take extended parental leave,” she said.

Would you like to see more paid parental leave introduced for dads? Let us know in the comments below.

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57 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 18 Sep 2024
    9:28 am
Things like this are just so amazing. We had nothing like this when I had my three bubs. Back then it was solely the womans responsibility to stay at home and raise the children. Dad was mainly there as a back up when the kids were not behaving “Wait until your father gets home”

- - Emz said
  - 18 Oct 2022
    8:12 am
Yes, it would be great for dads to get the opportunity to take more paid leave!!

- - mom461384 said
  - 20 Aug 2022
    10:35 am
I’m glad to hear they are finally taking more consideration for the dads out there

- - Zmijka86 said
  - 31 Jul 2022
    6:57 pm
No more kids for us so not so much impact on us.

- - mom160270 said
  - 03 Jul 2022
    5:09 pm
A much needed and wanted change.

- - alyise_ said
  - 03 Jul 2022
    3:05 pm
What a fantastic idea to ensure all dads have a say and have an option

- - My Littlebuttons said
  - 03 Jul 2022
    7:30 am
Thats so good its a shame they didnt have this when my kids were little

- - tessie said
  - 02 Jul 2022
    11:41 am
It is a good idea but I honestly don’t understand why Mum’s can only get 18 weeks while the Dad could get 20 weeks. Hopefully they both get the same or the Mum gets more than the Dad. Be interesting to see if this actually eventuates.

- - curlytops said
  - 01 Jul 2022
    11:18 pm
Wow. That’s a lot of leave. It would be interesting to see what the government decide

- - Lividanke said
  - 01 Jul 2022
    1:33 pm
This is a great idea. I was lucky that my hubby was able to have a fair bit of time off when I had my first baby (due to complicated c section), so he was at home to help me when I could barely move and really bonded well with our daughter.
When our second child was born he only got minimal time at home and with two young kids it was a bit of a struggle at times.
By the time our 3rd child was born, hubby took his annual leave to be at home and help me out, which I was so grateful for,

- - mom478127 said
  - 01 Jul 2022
    11:55 am
We were lucky in a way that we had our son during lockdown and my husband was working from home so he was able to help out a lot more- otherwise he would’ve only been home for a week or so. Dad’s definitely need more parental leave!

- - jrobin260 said
  - 01 Jul 2022
    6:17 am
This is such great news. We need all the help we can get at home with a newborn and all help is appreciated!!

- - mom265671 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    11:50 pm
This is fantastic. I know for us it was hard and 2 weeks of help just wasn’t enough

- - mom487937 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    7:38 pm
This is great, dad’s are just as vital. I think we should look at the paternity/maternity leave policies of more progressive countries like Sweden as a template.

- - mom160289 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    7:25 pm
Sounds like a great initiative for new dads

- - mom486400 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    5:47 pm
I think this is wonderful! My husband took about 3 months off from his own leave and it was the best to have him there with me. Having a baby is hard and any help is much appreciated!!! It’s not a holiday it’s hard work.

- - mom93821 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    5:17 pm
Flexibility is always a win for families.

- - Mumofboys said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    1:04 pm
I would have loved my hubby to be home for 20 weeks. I had a csection so 2 weeks just wasn’t enough! It’s so important especially if bub is prem and in hospital for weeks and weeks so he can be there with the mum supporting each other

- - mom468034 said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    11:31 am
It is moves like this that encourage employee loyalty rather than rapid staff turnover. If you look after your staff it reaps its own rewards.

- - natct said
  - 30 Jun 2022
    9:56 am
Good idea if it works.