Page 962 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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o provide paid postnatal leave for a total of 18 weeks …
o provide the adult minimum wage for each week of leave for most eligible employees, with benefits subject to normal taxation.
• All employees with a reasonable degree of attachment to the labour force would be eligible, including the self-employed, contractors and casual employees.
• A broad range of family types would be eligible … so long as they meet the employment test.
• Those families not eligible … would be entitled to a maternity allowance (the equivalent of the baby bonus) and other social transfer entitlements.
• Businesses would also participate in the scheme by acting as “paymasters” for the government-funded scheme, and by providing capped superannuation contributions for employees.
The commission states that such a scheme would help to provide the benefits I have mentioned previously—increased staff retention for business and therefore decreasing costs of recruitment and training—providing financial security for families and generating child and maternal health and welfare benefits. The draft report also notes that the scheme would promote some important, publicly supported social goals, and in particularly, the normalcy of combining a caring role for children and working.
While I understand that the final report to the Australian government has not yet been released and will be released this weekend, I am concerned about recent press reports which suggest that federal Labor may back away from the proposed scheme due to the current economic situation. Ms Julia Gillard has said they would have to wait and see before deciding whether the scheme would be in the budget and that it will have to be weighed up against the current financial climate.
I am not alone in my concerns. More than 100 prominent women, including the federal sex discrimination commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, met yesterday and called for the scheme to be retained in the upcoming budget. ACTU president Sharan Burrow has said:
This would help thousands of families experiencing financial uncertainty at a time of greatest need.
Both the federal and state governments are currently spending money to help stimulate the economy and keep jobs and families secure. Paid maternity leave is one measure that addresses both these issues. I call on the ACT government to lead by example by committing to including in the 2009-10 budget the provision of 18 weeks paid maternity leave for ACT public servants. As the Productivity Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald, stated, “This is a workplace entitlement. It is not a welfare measure.” I look forward to members’ responses to my motion and commend it to the Assembly.
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