16th Jun 2010, 12:22 PM – Senate Paid Parental Leave Bill 2010, Paid Parental Leave (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010 - In Committee - Extend scheme to 26 weeks

The Aye voters failed to pass a motion to agree to making a request that the House of Representatives amend the Paid Parental Leave Bill 2010 to extend the paid parental leave scheme from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.

The amendment was introduced by Greens Party Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who argued that 26 weeks (six months) is a “bare minimum” and used examples from paid parental leave schemes in Sweden, New Zealand, Finland and the UK to demonstrate this. The Senator also noted that the Coalition Opposition supported a six month scheme.

Senator Chris Evans, speaking for the Labor Government, did not support the amendment. He argued that such an extension would more than double the cost of the scheme. However, he also acknowledged that the scheme to be introduced by the Paid Parental Leave Bill 2010, along with the Paid Parental Leave (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010, was “a foundational proposal”.

Liberal Party Senator Mitchell Fifield acknowledged that Senator Hanson-Young was correct in saying that 26 weeks is the Coalition Opposition’s policy. However, he said that the Coalition Opposition would not be supporting this motion because “we do not have the numbers in the House of Representatives” and that while the Labor Government’s scheme is inadequate, “it is a step in the right direction”.

The Coalition’s election victory in 2013 may see changes to paid parental leave. For example, the Coalition has maintained its policy that the scheme should be 26 weeks long. A copy of their proposed paid parental leave scheme can be found here [1.7MB].