Albanese told boosted paid parental leave ‘good but not enough’

Labor is facing calls from unions, advocacy groups and the Greens to go further on paid parental leave after announcing it would expand the program to 26 weeks and make it more flexible.

ACTU President Michele O’Neil. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Labor is facing calls from unions, advocacy groups and the Greens to go further on paid parental leave after announcing on Saturday it would expand the program to 26 weeks and give parents full flexibility to take the entitlement “in a way that works best for them”.

Anthony Albanese unveiled the plan at the NSW Labor State Conference and said the decision was made after clear “consensus” at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September that paid parental leave needed to be expanded.

While the ACTU welcomed Labor’s announcement, it said the entitlement did not provide enough money, giving parents the equivalent of a minimum wage while they were on leave.

“This increase from 18 to 26 weeks is a great step forward for Australian parents, particularly working women,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said.

“Unions have campaigned for decades to improve the length of paid parental leave and the level of payments.

“We … will continue to campaign to lift payment of paid parental leave to a full replacement wage, including superannuation, which is so important to close the gender pay and super gaps.”

Greens deputy leader Larissa Waters also raised concern with the level of payments, calling for the government to scrap stage three tax cuts and use that revenue to pump more money into the program.

“Australia has one of the weakest parental leave schemes globally; yes, it should be paid for longer, but without super, or an increase to the amount paid, women are still losing out,” she said. “Women deserve fair PPL, and immediately – it improves their economic security, reduces the gender pay gap and increases the likelihood of mothers returning to work.”

Senator Waters said the government’s decision to phase in the expansion over four years was “an insult” to women who had waited for more than a decade for change.

Chief executive of parenting advocacy group The Parenthood Georgie Dent said the expansion to 26 weeks was “incredibly significant” but her organisation’s “ultimate ambition” was for Australian parents to have one year of paid parental leave shared between them. “That would make us a world leader,” she said.

Georgie Dent from The Parenthood with Anthony Albanese. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Under current arrangements, the primary carer is able to take 18 weeks of paid parental leave, which men are ineligible for in a straight relationship unless there are “exceptional circumstances”.

Men typically receive two weeks of commonwealth-funded “dad or partner pay”, making it more economically viable for women to stay home and men to go to work.

The Coalition cautiously welcomed Labor’s announcement, but said it would reserve its position until it saw the costings

Opposition spokesman for social services Michael Sukkar said the Coalition had pursued reforms to make paid parental leave more flexible while in government, seeking to give parents equal access to 20 weeks of leave.

“A single scheme reduces complexity for working families and enables eligible parents to share the full PPL entitlement between them within two years of their child’s birth or adoption if they are both in the workforce,” he said.