I had a year of maternity leave last year, and was fortunate enough to have 16 weeks paid leave from my employer and then the 18 weeks from the government. It was an incredible year bonding with my child and learning how to be a mother. Children from all backgrounds should have the right to have at least one of their parents with them full-time for the first year of their life; such an important year of development and bonding should be everyone’s right, regardless of income. What a joke to suggest this is ‘double dipping’ and then to get rid of it entirely. As other people have written already, the better a start a child gets in life, the less likely they are going to end up needing financial support later in life. Worry about the future, not just your pockets!!

How can this be seriously considered and who is advising you on this right now?
The bond between Parents and their Children, in the first few months and in early development years, is the most influential thing towards shaping their future for many years. You want a strong economy, you want people happy in jobs, you want prisons empty, you want people not to turn to drugs and alcohol to manage their lives, you want the hospital and mental health services to be less under the pump and you ask for community unity and world peace, then ask yourselves, does this view of encouraging Parents to get back to the workforce and spend less valuable time with their Children, manage to achieve all of these things? I work in the health sector and I can tell you, neglect through necessity is a tragic outcome of what you are suggesting. Not all Children suffer negatively due to Parents returning to work, and the early learning programs available today are of a very high standard, but there are some Children that do suffer and this can create larger cost in the future. The cost involved is supporting Parents now, reduces those costs in the future. A child’s need to connect with their Parents is as essential to their wellbeing, as air, food and water. I am proud and fortunate to be in a position to be paying taxes and I would like to know that the people given the responsibility to decide where my taxes go can see what is important and that they can support the development of healthy community. Healthy Parents bring up health Children with the support of a caring community. To quote an old African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a Child’. Lets create that village and keep Parents and Children connected. Regards Marg

The government implemented this scheme with the idea that you were meant to double dip. Put my child in childcare after my combined leave under the new scheme at 18weeks then the government has to pay my rebate anyway and there are so few places in child care anyway. I agree the mat leave should be means tested for combined family income just like everything else is except the childcare rebate. We should stop over reacting and making 5% of extremely high income earners the reason to punish the 95% of the rest of the families who would benefit from this. This one size fits all <150k is the issue with the scheme. Look at the total picture of a family before making cuts not just what an employer offers.

Hi,
My wife and I would dearly love to start a family. We are currently waiting for my wife to get permanency in her job as a teacher which she completed two degrees to be qualified in. She is in her 3rd year and at 30, this is no guarantee. Taking away paid parental leave hits us three times with an unstable working environment, rushing back to work and high mortgage repayments. It should not be only for the rich to be able to spend time with their children. As a teacher, it is very important that parents develop bonds with their children during this time and take on a strong role of educator as well.
Thank you for your time reading this and I do hope that the Government is able to afford the current middle income band at family building stage, some support to grow into the future of Australia.

Regards,

Scott Kirkby

Well said this is an outrage! The expression ‘double dipping’is offensive. Most employer schemes won’t even get you to 6 months of exclusive breast feeding recommend by WHO and yet the gov want to take away what might supplement an employer scheme to 6 months or thereabouts. The economics is spurious too given the cost of Childcare.

This is a disgrace, I’ve worked for 22 years and only got pregnant over 40 years old. Work maternity leave is not even 6 months so I don’t see how it’s double dipping. Women should be encouraged to stay home with a newborn for the first year, there is plenty of time to work. It is important for the baby and their development and having 18 weeks off the government and say 16 weeks off work paid only equals 34 weeks so if women do stay home for a year they are still out of pocket (yes their choice to stay home a year). But with the expense of child care, there are at times no incentive to return to work as there is no financial gain, especially for those on lower-median wages. The Government is disgraceful, they should look at the generous schemes of other countries and find a happy medium. And typical liberals, Tony Abbott only changed the lawyer a year or so ago and now they want to change it….disgraceful. This is NOT double dipping as they like to say.

I have to leave work at 34 weeks. Unfortunately I am considered high risk, so my employer (government) will not allow me to stay any longer. Even if they did, I live in a remote location and have to travel to the city for the last four weeks of my pregnancy. This means paying for 4-6 weeks accommodation, car hire etc. If my baby overcooks by up to two weeks (which is when the doctors will induce), it would mean that I will need to return to work when my child is only four weeks old. I understand the need to try and reduce welfare spending, but this is not the area in which to do it. This measure will result in either women leaving the workplace and going on benefits, or babies being placed in already overcrowded child-care facilities at an age which can be detrimental to their health and well being, plus child care benefits being claimed earlier. Either way it will cost the government more in the long run.

This is a disgrace! If the government allows rhis to happen it just shows how little they value australians tland their families. This will have so muvh financial strain, especially low income earners when they are having a child. It will be near impossible for a new mother to spend quality time with her child in the early years, unless her partner is a high income earner… not yo mention women who have a donor father. It’s already hard enough to buy a home, let alone start a family! I am so disgusted the australian government would even consider this!

Don’t take away better parental leave arrangements that help babies breast feed in accordance with WHO and Aus hospital guidelines (min 6 months).