Australia to offer six months paid parental leave by 2026
The Albanese government has announced it add an additional six weeks to the paid parental leave scheme (PPL), allowing Australians who have a child to receive payments for a full six months.
Currently parents are eligible for 18 weeks of paid parental leave and two weeks of secondary carer leave.
Both are paid at the same rate as the national minimum wage.
Those imminently expecting a child will miss out however, with the government proposing that it will expand the scheme by two weeks every year from 1 July 2024, until paid parental leave hits the full 26 weeks in July 2026.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said investing in new parents would provide a long-lasting economic return.
“This is a modern policy to support modern families. We know that investing in parental leave benefits our economy. It is good for productivity and participation, it’s good for families and it’s good for our country as a whole,” he said.
“More generous and more flexible paid parental leave rewards aspiration and provides every parent of a new baby with greater choice and better support.”
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said boosting women’s workforce participation and encouraging more dads to take parental leave was a priority for the Government.
“This will benefit mums, it will benefit dads, it’s good for children, and it will be a huge boost to the economy,” Minister Rishworth said.
“We know that treating parenting as an equal partnership helps to improve gender equality.
“It is important that we have a Paid Parental Leave scheme that supports modern Australian families and that complements other parental leave schemes offered by a growing number of employers.”
The government will maintain “use it or lose it” weeks to encourage and facilitate more dads and partners to access PPL, so that both parents can share in those precious early days and share the caring responsibilities more equally.
The 26 weeks leave will be able to be taken in blocks if desired, and single parents will be entitled to the full leave offered to two-person couples.
Further detail of this important measure will be released in the Federal Budget on October 25.
