Research reveals barriers to equal parental leave in Australia

New research from Monash Business School has found that fathers and partners still struggle to access paid parental leave, despite legal changes aimed at paving the way.

Australia provides 12 months of unpaid parental leave under the Fair Work National Employment Standards for most employees. To qualify for paid parental leave, parents must rely on up to 20 weeks of minimum wage payment under the Paid Parental Leave Act (PPL Act) or their employer’s parental leave policy.

The legal reforms to the PPL Act, which came into force in July 2023, aimed to remove assumptions such as automatically assigning the birth mother as the primary caregiver and the father as a “secondary” caregiver.

The study found that prior to July 2023, the PPL Act would provide eligible “primary” caregivers with 18 weeks of pay at the national minimum wage, while eligible “secondary” caregivers would receive two weeks of pay. provided.

“A biological mother is automatically the primary caregiver unless exceptional circumstances apply, such as if she is deemed ‘unable to care for her child’ or if it is unreasonable for her to care for her child. roles were assigned.

Secondary carer payments were referred to as ‘father and partner payments’ and ‘biological mothers’ were prohibited from accessing these payments.

The research, published in the Federal Law Review, was led by Dr Amanda Selvaraja from the Department of Management, Law and Taxation at Monash Business School and was based on an analysis of the PPL Act and employers’ parental leave policies. We investigated the barriers to implementation.

This is based on data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and interviews with HR professionals.

Dr Selvaraja said that overall, the changes to the PPL Act have improved its accessibility, usefulness and flexibility.

“However, despite its stated intention to improve paternity leave access, the PPL Act maintains several barriers that may undermine equal access for men and women,” she said.

“This is primarily because the PPL Act continues to require parents in married couples to share payments in order to obtain equal rights.”

The study found that the PPL Act maintains key barriers to the introduction of gender equality, including:

Ignoring the social, economic, and biological reasons why birth parents take parental leave in the first place and for long periods of time, parents still receive all but two weeks of parental leave because only two weeks of parental leave is nontransferable. You are required to share the payments. The “primary carer” requirement to take parental leave actually still exists and discourages co-parenting as only two weeks of payment are available at a time. The amount paid will continue to be set at the minimum wage. Low wage replacement rates discourage fathers, who are usually the primary breadwinners in their families, from taking parental leave.

“Employer parental leave policies can often be expected to be fully compensated. However, according to WGEA data, this is only offered in 68% of organizations with 100 or more employees. Therefore, many organizations do not provide their own policies,” Dr. Selvaraja said.

When employers offer their own parental leave policies, recent WGEA data shows that only 17% of men take parental leave.

Interviews with human resources professionals revealed that employer policies often reflect the key features of PPL laws, but also have many additional restrictions that hinder the recruitment of men.

Organizations still differentiated between primary and secondary carers Dual duty restrictions were common Time limits for taking parental leave were common (usually within 12 months) Employer stipulated The average length of leave for primary caregivers is only 12 weeks Length of service requirements are often more stringent than PPL law eligibility Employer parental leave has little flexibility unless negotiated or requested gender is not included Cultural resistance to fathers taking extended leave remains prevalent

“In the short term, these findings highlight the need for organizations to consider the structural and cultural barriers that may be preventing fathers from taking on more caregiving responsibilities.” Dr Selvaraja said.

“If left unaddressed, these barriers will continue to perpetuate gender inequalities at work and at home.

“This research reveals how industry is relying on legislation to guide the development of parental leave policies. Further legal reform is essential.”

“This can lead to broader societal benefits, including improved gender equality in career opportunities and economic outcomes for women.”