Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (18:13): 

I rise to contribute to the debate on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023. Times are tough for many in Australia right now. This is the case for people in all sorts of situations, but it is especially tough for working families. When we were first elected, we made a commitment to create a better future for all. We said there would be no-one left back and no-one left behind.

Soon after being elected, we followed through on this commitment by helping families who may be struggling, through implementing the first part of our paid parental leave reform. Paid parental leave reform was so high on our list of priorities that it formed the centrepiece of our first budget, where we invested half a billion dollars to expand the scheme to six months by 2026. This shows exactly how committed this government is to improving the lives of working families, supporting better outcomes for children and advancing women's economic equality.

Today, we are getting on with the job of creating a better future and helping working families even more by implementing the second part of this reform, which will further help to make the scheme more accessible, flexible and gender equitable.

There are a lot of people in the Hunter doing it tough, but, because of our changes to paid parental leave earlier in the year, more than 2,000 people are better off. As of July this year, 2,155 parents will be receiving paid parental leave in my electorate.

I am the proud father of two daughters. I have been through the early stages of parenting twice. I know what it's like to bring home a new baby and to have to adjust. It can be tough. I'll be honest: my wife did most of the work, and she did a great job. Thank you, Alex; I really appreciate what you do. But it can be tough. That's why it is good that over 2,000 people in my electorate are able to get a little bit of extra help at a time when they need it more than ever.

I have great news for the parents in my electorate and across Australia. We are doing our bit to ease their pressures even more by increasing the total number of weeks of paid parental leave by two weeks each year, starting on 1 July 2024 and eventually increasing it up to a total of 26 weeks on 1 July 2026. We are also increasing the number of weeks reserved for each parent to use on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, up to four weeks as of 2026, and doubling the number of weeks parents can take concurrently, so that it will be four weeks in 2025.

Currently, families are allowed to take 20 weeks of paid parental leave. This number will increase to 22 next year, 24 in 2025 and 26 weeks in the year 2026. That is an additional six weeks that parents will be able to spend with their newborn child without the added pressures of returning to work and without the stress of not having a secure income. This will make a huge difference to so many parents and, most importantly, will give our youngest Australians valuable extra time with their parents before their parents go back to work.

The increase to the number of concurrent weeks that will be able to be taken will also be a massive help for parents. Parenting isn't easy, and having two around to help definitely makes a big difference. Right now, parents can take two weeks of concurrent paid parental leave, but, as of 2025, this will double, meaning that parents will be able to have four weeks of concurrent leave.

Mothers should not be expected to do all the hard work of caring for a newborn child themselves. It is great that this bill opens the door to make it easier for dads to do their bit. When fathers take a greater caring role from the start, it benefits mums, dads and their kids. Fathers should be able to take on a greater caring role, knowing that they have the financial support that will come with the increased amount of paid parental leave that will become available to them due to the changes we are making with this bill.

When my daughters were born, my wife was amazing—but this doesn't mean she should be left to do all the hard work of caring for a newborn by herself. The changes in this bill send a very clear message. This message is that treating parenting as an equal partnership supports gender equality. This bill also sends a message that this government values men as carers too. We want to see that reinforced in workplaces and in our communities. This is a message that I support, and I am glad to see this outlook now being reflected in our paid parental leave system. These changes will make a huge difference to the lives of so many parents and families, with over 180,000 families expected to access the Paid Parental Leave scheme this year.

The changes will commence on 1 July 2024 and apply to births or adoptions from that date. These changes are a result of our government seeking advice and listening. The 26-week scheme comes after we sought advice from the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, or WEET. The WEET recommended reserving four weeks for each parent on a use-it-or-lose-it basis and allowing parents to take up to four weeks leave all at the same time. This bill reflects exactly what this advice was.

We in the Labor Party are proud to be members of the party that first introduced paid parental leave in 2011. Today I'm proud to be able to stand here as a member of a government that is delivering the largest investment in the scheme since it was introduced in 2011 by expanding the scheme to 26 weeks.

We also know that there are times that parents miss out on being able to access this scheme for technical reasons which are completely out of their control. We want to fix these issues and make the system fairer and more accessible to all. That is why it is important that this bill also includes a minor technical amendment to ensure access for fathers and partners who do not meet the work test requirements but would have done if their child had not been prematurely born. This provision is nothing new, as it is already in place for mothers, so it just makes sense that this provision should equally be applied to and used by fathers as well.

Everyone is on board with what we are trying to achieve by introducing this bill. Business, unions, experts and economists all understand that one of the best ways to boost productivity and participation is to provide more choice and more support for families as well as creating more opportunities for women. Increasing the amount of paid parental leave available and making changes to the way in which it can be taken does exactly this. It boosts productivity, helps families by providing more support and gives more opportunities for women to participate in the workforce because having a child should not come at the cost of a secure income.

This bill is really simple. To summarise this bill, it is aimed at helping working families by expanding paid parental leave. It expands the paid parental leave scheme in three ways. It increases the length of the payment from 20 weeks to 26 weeks. It increases the period of reserved leave for each parent from two to four weeks. It doubles the period in which parents can take paid parental leave at the same time from two weeks to four weeks. These changes give more families access to the payment, give parents more flexibility in how they take their leave and encourage parents to share the care.

The bill improves the lives of working families, supports better outcomes for children and advances women's economic equality. It is also about creating a balance. Our changes help to strike an important balance of increasing support to mums, encouraging dads to take leave and providing families flexibility in how they structure their care arrangements. This bill helps to deliver a better future, and I know it will be well received by the working families in my electorate of Hunter. It is good for young citizens, good for mums, good for dads and good for the economy. For all these reasons, I commend this bill to the House.