Paid parental leave scheme gets boost from new Federal Government proposal

The Albanese Labor Government has confirmed major changes to Australia’s Paid Parental Leave scheme in the wake of significant levels of feedback regarding the scheme raised at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September.

Under the new proposals parental leave will be lengthened by six weeks to total 26 weeks by 2026, with the Government committing to a period of modernisation of the system in a bid to improve flexibility which will begin in earnest from 1 July 2023. 

“This is a modern policy to support modern families,” the Prime Minister said. 

“We know that investing in parental leave benefits our economy. It is good for productivity and participation, it’s good for families and it’s good for our country as a whole”.

“More generous and more flexible paid parental leave rewards aspiration and provides every parent of a new baby with greater choice and better support,” he added.

A key tenet of the new scheme will be “use it or lose it” weeks designed to encourage and facilitate a greater incentive for working parents to take up their allocation of PPL.

Details of the precise application of the policy will be determined by advisor and gender equity advocate Sam Mostyn. 

More details of the scheme are expected to be revealed in the 2022/23 Federal Budget due to be delivered on 25 October 2022. 

To access the Prime Minister’s announcement please see here.