✍️ 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 took that case to Parliament House.
Here For It. From Day One.
Read the new ‘More Time’ With Dad report
People who have signed the petition
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Bronwyn Oostermeyer signed 2026-10-14 00:15:09 +1100
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Dannah Garling signed 2026-10-13 21:50:11 +1100
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Kelly Primmer signed 2026-10-13 12:23:47 +1100
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Felicity Ross signed 2026-10-13 12:05:12 +1100
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Immogen O'Connor signed 2026-10-13 10:02:51 +1100
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Julie O'reilly signed 2026-10-12 08:14:29 +1100
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Kyle Simms signed 2026-10-11 20:07:49 +1100
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Marie Jhoy Henderson signed 2026-10-11 15:33:39 +1100
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Georgia Watson signed 2026-10-11 14:20:20 +1100
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Madeline Ferster signed 2026-10-11 11:59:44 +1100
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Katherine Long signed 2026-10-11 10:13:36 +1100
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Abby signed 2026-10-11 07:27:12 +1100
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Hayley signed 2026-10-11 01:32:42 +1100
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Danielle King signed 2026-10-10 23:22:25 +1100
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Anastasya Hong signed 2026-10-10 08:58:07 +1100
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Megan Z signed 2026-10-09 19:27:57 +1100
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Florencia Scola Regulez signed 2026-10-09 11:18:52 +1100
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Phoebe signed 2026-10-09 10:17:46 +1100
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Eleanor Nankivell signed 2026-10-08 16:31:43 +1100
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Michelle Ceo signed 2026-10-07 00:39:44 +1100
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Lisa Pastelero signed 2026-10-06 14:20:01 +1100
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Georgie Pope signed 2026-10-06 11:24:44 +1100
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Daniel signed 2026-10-06 11:10:13 +1100
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Annelise Brown signed 2026-10-06 10:15:15 +1100
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Caitlin Bence signed 2026-10-06 09:21:10 +1100
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Cindy Coy signed 2026-10-06 09:00:31 +1100
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Steph Pe signed 2026-10-06 07:56:52 +1100
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Nick Bond signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-10-06 07:50:05 +1100
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Caitlyn Dalgarno signed 2026-10-05 23:47:14 +1100Paid parental leave equality is a win for everyone. What a postpartum mother needs is full support of her partner while she recovers and navigates the fourth trimester with their baby.
The minimum wage aspect of the current government “paid”parental leave is misleading. My husband and I were not able to take the full 26 weeks we were entitled to because, in this current climate of ever increasing interest rates, fuel prices, and just general living, we need two full salaries to maintain our household. My baby was only four months when I went back to work. I was “lucky” that my company provided me with 12 weeks of parental leave at full pay, plus whatever I was entitled to by the government. My husband’s company offer nothing other than the government’s parental leave. Therefore he took two weeks at the beginning and then had to go back to work. That’s not fair on him, on me, or on our baby.
There’s no wonder the birth rate in Australia is declining. -
Bronte Dooley signed 2026-10-05 20:07:31 +1100