Australian Greens Senator's Dissenting Report

1.1        The Australian Greens oppose this bill, which would prevent employees accessing the Commonwealth paid parental leave scheme to supplement any private parental leave agreement beyond a cumulative total of 18 weeks paid leave at the minimum national wage.

1.2        This Bill goes against international trends towards more generous parental leave, the government's own pre-election policy, and the economic advice of the Productivity Commission. It represents a partisan attack by this government on working women.

1.3        The Australian Human Rights Commission said in its submission that 'on its face, the Bill is a retrogressive measure, inconsistent with Australia's international human rights obligations'.[1]

1.4        The Australian Greens will continue to oppose this bill, which would prevent employees accessing the Commonwealth paid parental leave scheme to supplement any private parental leave agreement beyond a cumulative total of 18 weeks paid leave at the minimum national wage.

1.5        The CPSU noted that in August 2013, the Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave Policy in August 2013 argued that 26 weeks paid leave 'is the optimal outcome for new mothers', which was the outcome that the 2010 bill aimed to the achieve.

1.6        The Department of Social Services submission noted that the current PPL was successful in increasing the time mothers spent away from work following the birth of a child, and importantly 'increased the likelihood that they return to work by the time their baby is 12 months old'.[2]

1.7        Representative organisations for business have come out against the changes. For example, the Chamber and Commerce and Industry WA called them 'a backwards step in promoting gender equality...erod(ing) attempts by employers to address gender inequality in the workplace'.[3] Women on Boards have come out against the changes, calling them 'completely contrary to the advice of national and international bodies with expertise in child development'.[4]

1.8        The effect was even more substantial for low income mothers. The beneficiaries of Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave are overwhelming lower-income women, with 76.2% of recipients earning less than the average Australian income.[5]

1.9        Despite their rhetoric about getting women into work, the Government is engaging in a piece of social engineering that will hit women hard. The best way to look after children and to support women getting back to work is by legislating 6 months of paid parental leave, not by taking the axe to the current minimum entitlement. The current Paid Parental Leave scheme was always intended to be a floor, not a ceiling.

Recommendation 1

1.10      That the Fairer Paid Parental Leave Bill 2015 not be passed.

Senator Larissa Waters

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