✍️ 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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Paulina Pakos signed 2026-09-24 13:54:40 +1000
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Nicole Isley signed 2026-09-24 13:39:53 +1000
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Ru Samson-Nanu signed 2026-09-24 13:39:43 +1000
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Sarah Montagu signed 2026-09-24 13:26:30 +1000
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Sarah Jacobs signed 2026-09-24 13:20:17 +1000
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Deborah Birch signed 2026-09-24 13:18:54 +1000
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Jade Pomeroy signed via Wynnie Nwoga 2026-09-24 13:14:53 +1000
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Emily Foord signed 2026-09-24 13:08:24 +1000
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Grace Ryan signed 2026-09-24 13:06:54 +1000
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Gemma Renton signed 2026-09-24 13:06:44 +1000
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katie Cortes signed 2026-09-24 13:02:53 +1000
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Leesa Crookston signed 2026-09-24 12:55:52 +1000
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Teena Zorzi signed 2026-09-24 12:55:03 +1000
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Coby Williamson signed 2026-09-24 12:52:52 +1000
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Nivetha Gunasekaran signed 2026-09-24 12:46:49 +1000
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Isabella Grigorakis signed 2026-09-24 12:45:37 +1000
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Tahlia Maxwell signed 2026-09-24 12:44:43 +1000
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Bobbie Brown signed 2026-09-24 12:41:06 +1000
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Hana Dinh signed 2026-09-24 12:39:12 +1000
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Lowana Meehan-Tille signed 2026-09-24 12:35:27 +1000
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Alex Richards signed 2026-09-24 12:35:05 +1000
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Jessica Muirden signed 2026-09-24 12:33:22 +1000
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Courtney Southey signed 2026-09-24 12:23:28 +1000
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Jacky Saunderson signed 2026-09-24 12:23:04 +1000
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Hollie Wells signed 2026-09-24 12:22:40 +1000
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Renae Tedesco signed 2026-09-24 12:21:53 +1000
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Teagan Morton signed 2026-09-24 12:17:38 +1000
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Erin Beazley signed 2026-09-24 12:14:21 +1000
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Norell Naidoo signed 2026-09-24 12:13:37 +1000A healthy contributing society begins with the ability to focus on nurturing our young.
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Abi Brook signed 2026-09-24 12:04:22 +1000