A Time to Value - Proposal for a National Paid Maternity Leave Scheme
Media Pack
11 December 2002
Paid Maternity Leave: A Time to Value
Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward has today released her final paper, A Time to Value: Proposal for a national scheme of paid maternity leave.
The paper proposes a national scheme of paid maternity leave, entirely government funded, available to women in paid work at the time of the birth of a child. Women who have been in paid work for 40 of the 52 weeks before the birth of their child, including small business women, contractors and other self-employed, casual and part time workers, would be eligible.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission commissioned the independent National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling (NATSEM) to model and cost the proposal. NATSEM's final costing is estimated to be $213 million in 2003-04, if offset against savings in payments under other schemes and additional tax collections, well below any other publicly available estimates. Without offsets, the total cost is estimated at $460 million in 2003-04.
"NATSEM's figures show this scheme is an affordable first step for Australia," said Commissioner Goward. "Combined with other family payments it means that Australia would then be supporting all young families for those first few precious months, irrespective of whether or not the mother later returns to paid work."
The model assumes each eligible woman would be entitled to 14 weeks income replacement at a rate of up to the Federal Minimum Wage, currently at $431.00 per week. That is, full wage replacement for a woman earning the minimum wage who remains out of the workforce and at home with her child for those weeks. HREOC also recommends that the payment not be means tested but that women receiving the payment shall not receive the Maternity Allowance, Family Tax Benefits A and B for those weeks of paid maternity leave and the first twelve months of the Baby Bonus. Women would also pay tax on this payment.
Launching the paper in Sydney today, Commissioner Goward said: "This scheme would be of most benefit to women in low-paid, low-skilled jobs. These are women whose employers don't offer paid maternity leave and who do not have the bargaining power to negotiate a workplace agreement with this leave included."
HREOC based its recommendations on the national round of consultations with employers and employer groups, unions, women's groups and the community earlier in 2002. The Commissioner has consulted in every State and Territory capital as well as in some regional centres.
HREOC received over 250 written submissions from employers and employer groups, unions, women's groups, community groups, Government, academics, individuals, health professionals, legal organisations and other interested parties. Overwhelmingly submissions supported the introduction of a national scheme of government funded paid maternity leave. Most believed the scheme would enable Australian women to afford to take leave after the birth of the child, thus directly benefiting the mother and the health, wellbeing and development of the baby.
Commissioner Goward said employers should not be forced to pay for this scheme. But she said, if a government funded scheme was introduced, employers should be encouraged to top up the benefits to give more generous arrangements.
"It is not sensible for employers to be forced to pay for maternity leave," she said. "It is in the national interest that women, whether in paid work or not, are able to properly care for their children in the first few months. It is a national responsibility. Almost all other OECD countries do not require employers to pay maternity leave directly to their employees. Employer pays is not an option for Australia".
Although there was strong support for allowing fathers to be eligible for the benefit (but only one parent to receive the payment) the Commissioner considers that a period of 14 weeks is too short to allow the payment to be a matter of parental choice.
"Women physically bear children, give birth and breastfeed," Commissioner Goward said. Women can neither recover nor breastfeed satisfactorily if they are back on an assembly line in six weeks."
A Time to Value summarises the health and wellbeing as well as social, economic and industrial benefits of the proposed scheme. It is based upon the recognition that women suffer systemic disadvantage over their lives because of their reproductive role. The paper puts it in the context of rapid socio-economic change in Australia over the past 20 years. The nub of the argument, however, is the high proportion of mothers who return to paid work before their child's first birthday, largely because of financial pressure. These children are often in low income families where there is less access to employer-provided paid maternity leave.
The final report has been released at a time that enables the Federal Government to consider the inclusion of such a scheme in the 2003 Budget. Commissioner Goward urges the Government to introduce Paid Maternity Leave in the national interest.
"Paid maternity leave is about providing valuable time to women with their new babies and a national scheme is well overdue," said Commissioner Goward. "It's about time."
You can also access:
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Fact Sheet: The Model
- Fact Sheet: What would Paid Maternity Leave cost?
- Fact Sheet: The contribution of paid maternity leave to economic security, workplace disadvantage and equality
- Fact Sheet: Social benefits of paid maternity leave
- Fact Sheet: The contribution of paid maternity leave to the health and wellbeing of mothers and newborn children