Abstract
Key changes to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth) (‘ PPL Act’), which offers minimum wage payments to parents on parental leave, took effect in July 2023. These changes sought to improve the gender equal utilisation of parental leave. This article assesses these changes to that end. The article also explores the regulation of employer-funded parental leave policies, which has been under-researched to date, drawing upon recent Workplace Gender Equality Agency data and interviews with human resource professionals. The data reveals that employer-funded parental leave policies often provide higher levels of income replacement than the PPL Act but mirror many of the PPL Act’s features that discourage gender equal parenting. These findings highlight the need for further reform in the regulation of paid parental leave to increase take up amongst men. Such reform will require flexible parental leave policies with non-transferrable and generous entitlements for all parents with high levels of income replacement.
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