Top Australian workplaces with new dad-friendly policies revealed

AUSTRALIA’S most dad-friendly firms have been ­revealed in new research, with only 44 out of the 500 companies assessed meeting the criteria. Does your workplace make the top 20?

AUSTRALIA’S most dad-friendly firms have been ­revealed in a study of our 500 biggest companies.

CoreData research found Medibank Private, ­Mirvac and the Australian ­Securities Exchange did best in policies for new dads, including parental leave, flexible work arrangements and other benefits.

Others scoring high marks were the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, PwC Australia and the Australian ­National University.

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NAB analyst engineer Leif Pedersen at home with twins Margot and Frankie, 18 months, and son Will, 3. Picture: Ian Currie

The ­research, conducted for health insurer HBF’s Direct Advice for Dads publication, saw employers assessed on the length and uptake of paid primary carer’s and secondary carer’s leave, flexibility policies and other practices.

That only 44 of the 500 companies met the criteria to qualify as dad-friendly was “disappointing”, according to Direct Advice for Dads managing editor, Nathan Schmook.

“They could be doing a lot ­better,” he said.

“This was an exercise to shine a light on those 20 companies doing a great job and leading the way, but it was ­disappointing that a lot of the nation’s top 500 companies (by revenue) are not doing a great deal for dads.

“Hopefully this will start the conversation and companies will start improving policies. Companies leading the way are forming gender-neutral policies — making what’s available for mums available for dads as well,” he said.

NAB analyst engineer Leif Pedersen at home with children Will, 3, and twins Margot and Frankie, 18 months. Picture: Ian Currie

NAB analyst engineer Leif Pedersen used the bank’s paternity leave provisions twice, to enable him to be with his babies in the first three months of their lives.

“It has really helped my wife and I manage with our new family, we have a three-year-old son and 18-month-old twin girls,” he said.

He now works at least one day a fortnight from home.

“The biggest benefit for me was being able to bond with the children and be part of their lives for those first three months,” he said.

“They grow up so fast, it’s ‘blink and you’ll miss it’, so to be able to be there and bond during those early days was just fantastic.”

And he said being at home allowed his wife space to ­refocus on her career.

“I would really like to think this is something more men can take advantage of,” he said.

See the top 20 Australian dad-friendly workplaces here: directadvicefordads.com.au

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