I tend to forget about the Australian Democrats ever since they imploded but I can’t ignore the Dems with this call from Senator Natasha Stott Despoja for universal maternity leave.
She introduced a bill in September this year for consideration, seeking to give all working women in Australia 14 weeks (the International Labour Organisation standard) Government-funded leave at the minimum wage on the birth of a child (with the option of being topped up by workplaces to their normal earnings level). It’s primarily government-funded so a range of employer groups are on board with it. There is now a petition you can sign here urging the new Parliament when it re-forms post-election to finally provide a national system of maternity leave in this country. This petition is all about keeping the pressure up on the two major parties, and remember that the Liberal Party have stated their opposition to national paid maternity leave schemes.
I know maternity leave can divide some mothers because there are lots of expenses faced by parents in addition to maternity leave but remember this –
- we as a society have children, but it is women and only women who have to leave the workforce to give birth and provide the baby’s first nurturing and who consequently suffer that loss of income and workplace entitlements;
- Australia and the United States are the only two OECD countries left without a national maternity leave scheme (so you know, other countries are managing to provide this scheme without their economies falling apart or mass sackings of women by discriminatory employers);
- not all working mothers are well-paid mothers, some are working poor and they are most likely to be without paid maternity leave;
- birth and caring for a baby are extraordinarily exhausting (but also special) experiences and all working women, not just the ones in a good negotiation position deserve the right to recover from and enjoy these times.
blue milk 
Amen to all you just said.
I am impressed that a senator presented this at all. I cannot imagine a congressperson here in the US, most especially a woman, having the guts to do it. I deeply hope it gets somewhere, or at least that she keeps pushing it until it is a topic that become commonplace within governments like ours.
It’s a recurring topic, although sadly neglected During The Election Campaign, and Stott-Despoja is resigning from the Senate at this election which makes it easier to have the guts to do all sorts of things. That said, she’s been a pretty gutsy defender/promoter of progressive policy and women. She’s also, for our overseas friends, a young mother.
The Liberal party keep promoting the Family Tax Benefit and Baby Bonus, and it sounds generous until you compare it to pay for a 40 hr week. Mine works out at around $2 an hr. But it’s not a 40hr/week job, so it’s really less.
If permanent government employees deserve maternity leave, why don’t the rest of us? I was a casual before I had the lad, so I didn’t get anything but a hug from the boss on departure.
Thanks, have signed the petition and left some extra remarks about the urgent need for assistance and subsidy programmes for new mothers with special needs – NICU babies, babies needing expressed breastmilk, multiple births, single mothers (especially those with older children).
it’s absolutely disgusting that we don’t have a national maternity leave scheme. It just goes to show how women in the workforce are regarded.
Yes, absolutely. It’s a true shame that we don’t make families our priority.
I laugh out loud every time I come here. It’s a “right on sister.” Mothers across the globe it is time to rise.
I feel exactly the same about the Dems in America. If you want more mothers in the home – and everyone agrees it’s a good idea – then why are you making it so damn hard to do it?
Maternity Leave for F’cksake! I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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America and Australia don’t have maternity leave?!? Good grief I had no idea that was even an issue anymore. Our government in SA is pretty shocking when it comes to social welfare but at least that is legislation.
To clarify Bast, Australian women are entitled to 12 months unpaid leave. In some industries, including the public service, there is paid leave for a short time. I work in a university, where permanent employees have a really good deal, but most employees are casual and get nothing. Recent workplace relations legislation has also made it easier to sack people without a good reason, and that’s not good for pregnant women.
In Victoria our nurses have ended their work bans and struck a deal on pay and conditions (including staff:patient ratios). They did well, but the government wouldn’t even discuss reducing the midwife:labouring woman ratio to 1:1. Which isn’t good for women either.
[…] talked about maternity leave before, so to quote my lazy self: I know maternity leave can divide some mothers because there are lots […]
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