The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has called for significant changes to Australian Public Service parental leave arrangements in a submission to a review launched by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) last December.
The APSC introduced a review of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1973 (ML Act) to explore the streamlining of administration requirements; paid maternity leave entitlements; the health and career needs of birth mothers; and superannuation entitlements while on parental leave.
Submissions were open to 4 February.
Releasing its submission, the CPSU said that when the ML Act was introduced, it represented the first formal provisions for maternity leave and improved women’s workforce participation and job security.
“Today the ML Act is outdated and in need of significant revision to reflect the changing family structures and norms for managing family responsibilities and to promote gender equity in the Commonwealth Public Sector,” the CPSU said.
“The ML Act must be updated to provide a modern baseline of entitlements, with the ability for innovation in enterprise bargaining to continue,” it said.
“The ‘no enhancements rule’ that has hindered this innovation in recent years must be abandoned, as it represents a barrier to improved parental leave conditions and improved gender equality in the workplace.”
The CPSU said the Review was an opportunity to address ongoing gender inequities in paid work and unpaid care work and to set up the Commonwealth as an employer of choice.
The Union made 25 recommendations to the Review, including increasing leave entitlements to include 26 weeks of paid primary caregiver leave; the introduction of eight weeks’ ‘supporting partner leave’ that could be taken concurrently; flexibility to access parental leave over a five-year period; the right to extend unpaid leave until the child reaches school age; and the extension of parental leave entitlements to include adoption and foster.
Further information on the APSC’s Review is available in this PS News report and the CPSU’s 19-page submission can be downloaded at this link.
