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Research reveals barriers to gender equal parental leave in Australia

A new study from the Monash Business School has found that fathers and partners still struggle to take up paid parental leave, despite legal changes that were designed to clear the way.

Australia offers unpaid parental leave for 12 months, under the National Employment Standards of the Fair Work Act, which covers most employees. To access paid parental leave, parents must rely on minimum wage payments under the Paid Parental Leave Act (PPL Act) for up to 20 weeks or an employer's parental leave policy.

Legal amendments to the PPL Act that took effect in July 2023 sought to remove assumptions such as automatically assigning birth mothers as primary caregivers and fathers as 'secondary' caregivers.

The study states that, before July 2023, the PPL Act offered eligible 'primary' caregivers 18 weeks of payments at the national minimum wage, while eligible 'secondary' caregivers were offered two.

"Birth mothers' were automatically assigned the role of primary caregiver unless exceptional circumstances applied, such as where they were deemed to be 'incapable of caring for the child' or it was considered unreasonable for the birth mother to care for the child.

Secondary caregiver payments were referred to as 'dad and partner pay," a payment that 'birth mothers' were prohibited from accessing.

Published in the Federal Law Review, the led by Dr. Amanda Selvarajah from Monash Business School's Department of Business, Law and Taxation explored barriers to gender equal take up based on an analysis of the PPL Act and employers' parental leave policies.

It drew upon data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and interviews with human resource professionals.

Dr. Selvarajah said overall, the changes to the PPL Act had improved its accessibility, utility and flexibility.

"However, despite a professed intention to improve fathers' parental leave usage, the PPL Act maintains several barriers that may compromise its gender equal utilization," she said.

"This is largely because the PPL Act continues to require parents in coupled households to share their payments between them to have an equal entitlement."

The study found the PPL Act maintains key barriers to gender equal takeup including:

• Parents are still expected to share all but two weeks of the payments as only two weeks of parental leave is non-transferrable, disregarding the social, financial and biological reasons that birth parents take parental leave first and for longer periods.
• A 'primary caregiver' requirement to access parental leave persists in practice, discouraging shared parenting, as only two weeks of payments can be accessed concurrently.
• The payments continue to be set at the minimum wage. Low rates of wage replacement discourage fathers from taking parental leave who are usually the main breadwinner in their families.

"Promisingly, employer parental leave policies are often fully compensated. However, WGEA data suggests this is only offered in 68 percent of organizations with over 100 employees. Many organizations therefore do not offer any policies of their own," Dr. Selvarajah said.

Where employers do offer their own parental leave policies, recent WGEA data also suggests that only 17 percent of parental leave use was taken up by men.

Interviews with HR professionals revealed how employer policies often mirrored key features of the PPL Act with even more restrictions, discouraging take up among men:

• Organizations still delineate between primary and secondary caregivers
• Limits on concurrent use were prevalent
• Time limits to access parental leave were common (usually within 12 months)
• The average length of employer-provided primary caregiver leave is only 12 weeks
• Length of service requirements are often more stringent than PPL Act eligibility
• Employer's parental leave rarely had any flexibility incorporated unless negotiated for or requested
• There is still prevalent cultural resistance to fathers taking extended periods of leave

"In the short term, these findings emphasize the need for organizations to consider the structural and cultural barriers that may be preventing fathers from taking on more caregiving responsibilities," Dr. Selvarajah said.

"If left unaddressed, these barriers will continue to perpetuate gender inequality in the workplace and at home.

"The study reveals how the industry relies on legislation to take the lead in parental leave policy design. Further legislative reforms are crucial to help normalize equal caregiving by both parents, reducing the gender divide in unpaid labor.

"This could lead to broader societal benefits, including improved gender equality in career opportunities and economic outcomes for women."