✍️ Add your name to give every baby the first year they deserve.
A baby's first year lays the foundation for the rest of their life.
On 1 July, Australia expanded paid parental leave to 26 weeks, with four of those weeks reserved for fathers and partners. That was a genuine win, and it was hard fought.
Four weeks is a start. It isn't a finish.
The scheme is paid at minimum wage — around half what an average full-time worker earns. For most families it doesn't stretch to a year, and it doesn't stretch to two parents.
So instead of choosing how they want to share their baby's first year, parents are forced to make financial decisions. One parent stays home. The other goes back to work. Patterns that last for years are set before families ever had a real choice.
To be clear about something: this is not leave taken from mums. It's leave added for dads. Every week a father is home in that first year is a week a mother isn't doing it alone.
Dads are main characters in family life, not cameos. It's time our policy settings said so.
It doesn't have to be this way.
The Parenthood is campaigning for 12 months of paid parental leave at a replacement wage, with dedicated leave for both parents, so every family can afford to share their baby's first year.
On Monday 7 September, dads, kids and supporters are taking that case to Parliament House. We want your name on the list we hand over.
Here For It. From Day One.
People who have signed the petition
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Cristina Dervenis signed 2026-09-05 13:28:05 +1000
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Tan Nguyen signed 2026-09-05 12:41:20 +1000
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Paula La Rocca signed 2026-09-05 12:38:05 +1000
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Cally Castell signed 2026-09-05 12:11:08 +1000
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Meg Kelleher signed 2026-09-05 11:34:10 +1000
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Emil Lourens signed 2026-09-05 10:24:26 +1000
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Melissa Rutherford signed 2026-09-05 10:05:35 +1000
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Tiffany Walsh signed 2026-09-05 09:51:53 +1000
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Rani Nandan signed 2026-09-05 09:37:32 +1000
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Genevieve Bone signed 2026-09-05 08:49:10 +1000
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F Bree signed 2026-09-05 08:27:57 +1000
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Sonia Harris signed 2026-09-05 08:15:31 +1000
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Careen Redman signed 2026-09-05 08:08:48 +1000
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Emily Hindle signed 2026-09-05 07:41:32 +1000
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Chelsea Todd signed 2026-09-05 07:23:03 +1000
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Julie-Anne Macintyre signed 2026-09-05 06:58:13 +1000
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Rebecca Muser signed 2026-09-05 05:39:06 +1000
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Tara Draper signed 2026-09-05 05:09:54 +1000
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Helen McNally signed 2026-09-05 00:25:10 +1000
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Meg Liston signed 2026-09-04 23:38:15 +1000
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Sarina Lowe signed 2026-09-04 22:48:21 +1000
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Allisa Inwood signed 2026-09-04 22:46:54 +1000
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Ella Huisman signed 2026-09-04 22:40:23 +1000
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Ellyce Denn signed 2026-09-04 22:07:53 +1000Yes yes yes
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Thitikwan Suphithakkul signed 2026-09-04 21:58:34 +1000
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Christabel Richards-neville signed 2026-09-04 21:46:09 +1000
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Nikita Deshpande signed 2026-09-04 21:37:24 +1000
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Dawna Wright signed 2026-09-04 21:21:39 +1000Parenting isn’t a ’women’s issue’ – it’s a family issue. Until we treat Mums and Dads equally as parents at home, we won’t / can’t have equality for women and men as executives in the workplace.
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Alex Bennett signed 2026-09-04 21:09:37 +1000
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Andrea Bombino signed 2026-09-04 21:06:20 +1000