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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Thursday, 5 August 2004) . . Page.. 3578 ..

We have enacted a range of maternity leave initiatives including an increase in paid maternity leave for public sector staff from 12 to 14 weeks. With this amendment the ACT private sector now has an incentive to follow the government’s lead and provide similar provisions for maternity, adoption and primary carer leave.

At present, women still bear the majority of parenting and caring roles. At the same time, women are increasingly being encouraged to pursue careers. For women who are both raising children and working, family-friendly and flexible working places are becoming increasingly important. The Assembly is one of those workplaces. At present, however, the majority of women employed in the ACT private sector do not have access to paid maternity, adoption or primary carer leave. This significantly limits options available to women in the ACT who wish to have children.

As part of this government’s longstanding commitment to promoting women’s employment options, this amendment will not only provide working women with more economic stability but also allow them greater choice surrounding employment and parenting decisions.

In line with the goals outlined in the Canberra social plan, this payroll tax exemption promotes a balance between work and family life. The ACT government is committed to the concept of work life and family balance—or, as someone in my office calls it: the work life and family “collision”—and recognises that all Canberrans have commitments outside the workplace.

This amendment recognises the importance of parenting and will encourage workplaces to provide greater flexibility to employees and more family-friendly environments. This government understands that, by providing people with a balance between work and other commitments, the whole community will ultimately benefit.

A similar payroll tax exemption amendment was introduced by the Victorian government in 2003. The ACT amendment, however, goes even further than the Victorian model by providing an exemption to employers for wages paid to employees taking primary carer leave, as well as maternity and adoption leave. The allowance for primary carer leave supports and recognises partners and other family members in parenting roles.

This amendment will also promote greater gender equity in parenting and family responsibilities, and will ease the pressure on women balancing career and family commitments.

This amendment will clearly benefit ACT women working in the ACT private sector through the provision of an exemption to employers from payroll tax or wages paid to an employee on primary carer leave. The amendment will also mean that the onus of parenting and the double burden of work and family responsibilities can be spread more evenly between ACT females and their male counterparts.

In conclusion, I acknowledge and thank the Treasurer, Ted Quinlan, for his cooperation and input into the development of this amendment bill; his staff in his office; the staff from the Office for Women; and particularly Angie Drake from my office.

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