Supporting Families to Work and Parent for a More Gender Equitable Australia

Although Australia has a government-funded paid parental leave scheme, the payment rate and leave duration mean that many families1 still rely on employer-provided leave for financial security. This creates unequal access to adequate leave, as employer support varies significantly by gender, sector, occupation and income level.

Australia’s current system also reinforces unequal care roles. It encourages mothers to spend more time caring for children and engaging in unpaid domestic work, while limiting fathers’ participation in care. This contributes to the gender pay gap and deepens gender inequity.

The design of Australia’s current scheme influences patterns of caregiving and workforce participation. Payment settings, leave length, sociocultural norms and allocation rules mean mothers often spend longer out of paid work, while fathers’ uptake of parental leave remains comparatively low. Recent figures for government-funded paid parental leave show that fathers comprised just 0.6 per cent of the total recipients of primary paid parental leave.

This paper examines the strengths and limitations of the current government-funded paid parental leave system in Australia. Drawing on qualitative evidence from Australian families, it identifies ways that government can better support Australian parents.

These opportunities include increasing the rate and duration of paid parental leave and reserving a portion for fathers; expanding childcare subsidies to support care at home during the early years; encouraging employer-led return-to-work frameworks; promoting cultural change to increase and normalise paternal leave uptake by delivering public education initiatives; and prioritising the equitable division of parenting and caregiving in the National Gender Equality Strategy.

This research aims to support an Australia where families have genuine agency in deciding how care and paid work are shared. Achieving this requires targeted support for mother and father figures that address structural inequality and advance gender equality.