Debate has erupted recently after the report "Valuing Parenthood", was released by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward. The aim of this report was to generate a debate on the best approach for funding a paid maternity scheme in Australia. Currently, all employees are entitled to unpaid parental leave.

On July 18, following the release of this report, the Prime Minister, John Howard said he had not ruled out a tax-payer funded maternity leave scheme. But he insisted that the baby bonus would not be dumped to pay for the scheme. He said a universal paid maternity leave scheme was "an interesting and important issue" being examined by the Coalition.

Ms Goward said paid maternity leave was "an absolutely rock bottom" requirement in any package of measures and would "make a fairly big difference between having one and two children".

Mr Howard promised the government would not adopt a policy that put a financial burden on small business. "They just can't afford it," he said. "It's uneconomical; it's unfair. And it will actually damage the employment prospects of women."

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it supported appropriate funding for taxpayer-funded maternity benefits but opposed any compulsory employer-funded scheme.
"It is not an employer's responsibility to fund parenthood or population in our society," said chief executive, Peter Hendy.

Current maternity rights in Australia

Parental leave is 52 weeks of full-time unpaid leave to enable an employee to care for a new born baby or a young child being adopted.

Parental leave is a combination of three types of leave:

1. Maternity leave for female employees on the birth of a child, and as the primary care giver of the child for the first 12 months of its life;
2. Paternity leave for the male employees on the birth of a child to their spouse, and as the primary care giver of the child for the first 12 months of its life;
3. Adoption leave for any employee considering adoption on the placement of a child with that employee as the primary care giver of the child during the first 12 months of adoption.

Your obligations

Before applying for parental leave you must

• provide proof that you're pregnant
• have completed at least 12 months continuous service with your employer by the expected date of birth
• provide notice of the expected date of birth as least 10 weeks before that date
• give your employer notice of your intention to take leave
• sign a statutory declaration detailing your spouse's/partner's leave arrangements, stating that you will be your child's primary care-giver and that you will not work for anyone else.

Your rights

If you take parental leave you are entitled to:

• return to the position you held before you took leave (or to your original job if you had transferred to a different job because of pregnancy)
• take other leave (eg annual leave) in combination with parental leave, as long as you still only take 52 weeks in total
• extend the parental leave once within the 52 week period, but you must give your employer notice (unless your change is unforseen). If you want to extend your leave again, it will be at your employer's discretion
• shorten your parental leave, with your employer's agreement.

Ms Goward believes that the declining birth rate in Australia showed that women were choosing their careers over parenthood as current standings do not allow them to properly balance both. On the release of her report she stated 'we need to stop the fertility strike, to give women the opportunity to properly balance work and family and to convince employers that paid maternity leave is good for business'.

In her report Ms Goward is calling for widespread debate to determine the best approach for a national paid maternity leave scheme. One option is a scheme that could be funded by both the government and employers. She understands the concerns that many employers have regarding the costs of funding maternity leave with many businesses arguing they would be less inclined to employ a woman if they were forced to pay maternity leave. At the moment the option of paid maternity leave is up to the individual company or employer and can range from 2-12 weeks.

Ms Goward puts many options on the table and wants discussion from the broader community hoping to produce a final report of the results to the Federal Government at the end of the year.