Leading Practice

What is leading practice for employer-funded parental leave policy?

Leading practice for parental leave policy is:

  • inclusive – leading practice is for employer-funded parental leave to be inclusive of all parents, caregivers and prospective parents, be inclusive of all family structures,  and be gender neutral and universal. This also includes not requiring minimum service requirements for accessing leave which can disadvantage new employees who may be pregnant, planning for a family or prospective parents
  • flexible and supportive – leading practice is for employer-funded parental leave to be flexible and include superannuation
  • inclusive of diverse parenthood experiences – leading practice is for employer-funded parental leave to cover all experiences of birth, adoption, fostering, kinship care, surrogacy, stillbirth, infant death of a child and fertility and reproductive leave for those planning to have a family.

 

DCA members can log in to access information, case studies and examples on how your organisation can have parental leave policy that is inclusive for all, inclusive of diverse parenthood experiences, flexible and supportive.

See our DCA Policy Submissions for DCA’s position on government-funded parental leave:

DCA submission in response to Paid Parental Leave Amendment Bill 2023

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The Case for Action
Parental Leave
  1. WGEA, “Australia’s Gender Equality Scorecard”, WGEA, 2024.
  2. Ibid, p. 42
  3. Ibid
  4. WGEA, “Australia’s Gender Equality Scorecard”.
  5. WGEA, “Towards gender balanced parental leave”, WGEA, 2017
  6. A. Scott, “The diversity of LGBTQ+ families and parental leave”

    Pepper and K. MacDonald, “Paid parental leave should be extended to both caregivers, according to experts. Hugh couldn’t agree more”, ABC News, 25 March 2022

  7. WGEA, “Gender Equality Scorecard”, p. 46
  8. Ibid.
  9. Ibid.
  10. WGEA, “Women’s economic security in retirement: Insight paper”, WGEA, 2020.
  11. R. Clare, “An update on superannuation account balances”, ASFA: The voice of super, 2023.
  12. These companies in the table were taken from E. Black, “These companies have the best parental leave perks”, Financial Review, October 2022.
  13. The Pink Elephants support network, The State of Early Pregnancy Loss and Fertility Support in the Workplace, P. 18
  14.  The Pink Elephants support network, The State of Early Pregnancy Loss and Fertility Support in the Workplace
  15. The Pink Elephants support network, The State of Early Pregnancy Loss and Fertility Support in the Workplace, P. 18
  16. The Pink Elephants support network, The State of Early Pregnancy Loss and Fertility Support in the Workplace, P. 8
  17. Red nose, “Facts and figures”, Red Nose, accessed 10 December 2024
  18. Stillbirth Foundation, “Understanding stillbirth”, Stillbirth Foundation, accessed 10 December 2024
  19. Red nose, “Facts and figures”
  20. Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Deaths, Australia”, ABS, 2023
  21. Fair Work, “Stillbirth, premature birth or infant death”, Fair Work Ombudsman, accessed 10 December 2024
  22. M. O’Shea, “What is reproductive health leave and why do we need it?”, The Conversation, 2024
  23. Ibid, p. 20
  24. Adapted from guidelines from Australian Breastfeeding Association, “Returning to work: Exploring your breastfeeding options”, ABA, accessed 10 December 2024
  25.  Adapted from guidelines from Australian Breastfeeding Association, “Returning to work: Exploring your breastfeeding options” and Australian Public Service Commission, “Chapter 10: Return to Work”, APSC, accessed 10 December 2024
  26. Adapted from guidelines from Australian Breastfeeding Association, “Returning to work: Exploring your breastfeeding options” and UTS, “Breastfeeding at UTS: Guideline”, UTS, accessed 10 December 2024
  27. Workplaces with childcare onsite includes: BubbaDesk and Cowork Creche. This article talks about the partnership between Canva and BubbaDesk for Canva employees to have access to childcare onsite: Hislop, “A game-changer for working parents: Canva’s new partnership with BubbaDesk co-working space”, Women’s Agenda, 2024
  28. Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace, “Breastfeeding and Work: Your rights at work”, Australian Breastfeeding Association, accessed 10 December 2024
  29. R. Potter, “National Review: Work Conditions and Discrimination among pregnant and parent workers in Australia: Evidence and Insights Report,” Australian Government: Australian Research Council and University of South Australia: Centre for Workplace Excellence, 2024, p. 24
  30. These are adapted from: Fair Work, Parental Leave: Using best practice to support parental leave and best practice checklist, Services Australia, Keeping in touch with your employee getting Parental Leave Pay
  31. R. Potter et al., “National Review: Work Conditions & Discrimination among pregnant and parent workers in Australia: Evidence & Insights report,” p. 17
  32. Ibid.
  33. Edith Cowan University, Parental leave: A guide for ECU staff
  34. Business Victoria, Parental leave policies and staff support: Supporting an employee to return to work