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, we 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  asked the the Productivity Commission to look at the economic and social costs and benefits of paid maternity, paternity and parental leave.

The Commission  conducted a thorough examination and recommended that paid parental leave be introduced in the draft report.  The final report has been submitted to the government, but no announcement has been made about whether the government intends to introduce paid parental leave in the 2009 budget. 

Some commentators are skeptical, doubting that this will happen due to the current global financial crisis.  Others have been a bit more optimistic. 

A recent study undertaken by the Australia Institute has proved that Australia could introduce a paid parental leave scheme that pays for itself, creates nearly 9000 new jobs and boosts the economy.

There is little reason, in NFAW's view, for the government to delay introduction of paid parental leave any further.

NFAW response to the Productivity Commission's draft report

submission on issues arising from the consultations prepared by NFAW in association with Security for Women.  This submission draws on the NFAW's national consultations (supported by the Commonwealth Office for Women) with women and women's organisation about the Productivity Commission's draft report on paid parental leave and has written a further 

 Overall the Productivity Commission recommendations were welcomed by women.  Some subsidiary concerns were identified, but the general feeling was that these concerns should be managed in the planned reviews, rather than further delaying introduction of the proposed scheme.  

The concerns include the impact of the proposed scheme on indigenous women, and on women returning to the workforce on a part-time basis who become pregnant again before being employed for twelve months.   

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.

  NFAW submission to Productivity Commission

 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