Equality enabling parental leave: prevalence and distribution in Australian universities

Abstract

The university sector has been at the forefront of advances in employer-paid parental leave in Australia, with provisions in most universities predating and more generous than the entitlements introduced under the government-funded Paid Parental Leave scheme introduced in 2011. Given these achievements, the sector provides a useful opportunity to examine parental leave arrangements in terms of their capacity to enhance gender egalitarianism. Our research aims are to identify the presence and distribution of gender egalitarian models of parental leave in the university sector and investigate possible explanations for the patterns observed. Based on an analysis of enterprise agreements current in 2012, we find considerable variation in the degree of gender egalitarianism in parental leave provisions across the sector, and describe three distinct parental leave models: ‘equality impeding’, ‘limited equality enabling’ and ‘extended equality enabling’. Our analysis suggests that explanations for this variation are complex: we find limited statistical associations with the organisational characteristics of universities, and interviews conducted with members of bargaining teams highlight considerable local variation in the likelihood that gender egalitarian arrangements will be on the agenda and considered favourably. We argue that while incremental gains in the gender egalitarianism of parental leave provisions in the sector may continue under enterprise bargaining, a coordinated approach may be needed to achieve significant advances.