> download Submission on 6 Months Parental Leave Amendment Bill (PDF, 87KB)
We support the basic premise of the Bill, that greater investment is needed to increase the duration of the parental leave payment to a maximum of 26 weeks by 2014.
However, we believe the critical question to ask in this situation is around what are the priorities our Government is setting for our nation. Fundamentally, this Bill is a good idea, particularly as it is supporting parents in their care of our children. But we submit that there are other issues that are of equal or even greater importance to our nation as extending paid parental leave.
We continue to raise the issues surrounding child poverty as absolutely vital for our Government, and for our nation as a whole, to comprehend, debate, discuss and develop meaningful and effective solutions.