‘No family worse off’: Federal Government flags huge change to parental leave ahead of budget

More than 180,000 Aussie families will be heavily impacted by parental leave changes flagged ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget.

Families earning up to $350,000 will be eligible for rebooted paid parental leave payments in the new budget, which the Federal Government claims will leave “no family worse off”.

The sweeping changes to the parental leave scheme, set to be unveiled in Tuesday’s federal budget, will also smooth the claiming process that allows either parent to be the primary claimant and takes weeks of leave at the same time to spend time with their children.

Eligibility for the scheme will be expanded with a new $350,000 family income test that they can be assessed under if they do not meet the individual income test of $156,647.

Education Minister Jason Clare said the new changes would benefit 180,000 families under the proposed reforms.

Education Minister Jason Clare said the proposed changes meant thousands of families would have easier and more affordable access to paid parental leave. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“This is economic reform – boosting productivity and cutting the cost of living for more than a million families across the country,” he said.

Last week, the government expanded the leave allowance by six weeks – bringing the total payable leave up to 26 weeks.

Under the current measures, a mother must claim PPL then transfer it to another parent if a family wants to share parental leave.

“This is administratively complex and burdensome for parents,” Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said.

“We are committed to making a better Australia and leaving no one behind … no family will be worse off.

“Our PPL changes will make it easier for families to share care by removing the current requirement that the primary claimant must be the birth parent – this will make it easier for partners to take leave and remove assumptions about mothers and fathers being ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ carers.”

The reforms mean a family on the median combined income of $120,000 with one child in early childhood education will save $1780 in the first year.

Up to 410,000 families in NSW will benefit, along with 302,100 in Victoria, 284,100 in Queensland and 111,800 in Western Australia.

Another $12.4 million was announced to promote playgroups and toy libraries – which Early Education Minister Anne Aly called a “vital role” for children’s health and education.

“Access to early childhood education means improved economic security for women where families can make the choices around workforce participation and early childhood education that work for them,” she said.