Paid Parental Leave? What’s That?
By Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has formally announced his “signature” paid parental leave policy, saying he has a “convert’s zeal” for the scheme.
Mr Abbott says he hopes the policy will lead to more people having babies. “This is a pro-child, pro-family, pro-growth policy,” he said.
Mr Abbott says the 26-week replacement wage scheme is “fully costed and fully funded” at around $5.5 billion a year from July 1, 2015. “The Parliamentary Budget Office has gone through this with a fine tooth comb,” he said. “It’s looked at every combination and permutation, it’s looked at all of the modelling. This has been months with the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
“Big business pays for this and and every working mother is better off under our scheme – if you are on the minimum award wage, you are $5,000 better off under our scheme.”
Women earning up to $150,000 a year will be paid their full wage for the period of leave, including superannuation.
Coalition’s parental leave scheme
- Mothers will be provided with 26 weeks of paid parental leave at their actual wage or the national minimum wage (whichever is greater), plus superannuation
- Fathers will be eligible for two weeks for paternity leave at their actual wage or the national minimum wage (whichever is greater), plus superannuation
- If the father is nominated as the primary carer rather than the mother, he will be able to access paid leave to reflect either his or the mother’s wage (whichever is lower) or the minimum wage (if it is higher than that wage)
- To be eligible, a person must have worked for at least 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth or adoption of their child and have worked at least 330 hours in that 10-month period, with no more than an eight-week gap between two working days
- For a woman earning $150,000 per annum or more, paid leave is capped at $75,000
Mr Abbott says the scheme will be funded by a 1.5 per cent levy on the 3,000 largest businesses in Australia – which is offset by a 1.5 per cent company tax cut – and budget savings, including $2 billion from abolishing the Government’s existing leave provisions.