✍️ 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
-
Libby Noor signed 2026-09-23 14:32:23 +1000
-
Rudyard Connery signed 2026-09-23 14:28:54 +1000
-
Courtney McIntosh signed 2026-09-23 14:14:25 +1000
-
Megan Williams signed 2026-09-23 14:09:41 +1000
-
Andrew Duguid signed 2026-09-23 13:38:39 +1000
-
Dan Spat signed 2026-09-23 13:34:18 +1000Keep up the amazing advocacy work!
-
Beau Jansen signed 2026-09-23 13:32:12 +1000
-
Christian Lionis signed 2026-09-23 13:27:57 +1000
-
Brooke King signed 2026-09-23 13:23:59 +1000
-
Michela Ziady signed 2026-09-23 13:08:41 +1000Financial tax of having a family perpetuates privilege, falls hardest on women, and puts families of today under immense pressure. Need this to swiftly change with govt funding
-
Lee Wajzer signed 2026-09-23 13:03:17 +1000
-
Caroline Diek signed 2026-09-23 12:51:43 +1000
-
Lisa Alcock signed 2026-09-23 12:51:01 +1000
-
Lisa Preedy signed 2026-09-23 12:49:02 +1000
-
Erin Hendry signed 2026-09-23 12:11:31 +1000
-
Emma Lindsay signed 2026-09-23 11:48:49 +1000
-
Krystal Lewis-Smith signed 2026-09-23 11:29:38 +1000
-
Jessica Gough signed 2026-09-23 11:19:12 +1000
-
Belinda Andrews signed 2026-09-23 10:59:28 +1000
-
Cat Greves signed 2026-09-23 10:29:30 +1000
-
Adam Mcgowan signed 2026-09-23 10:05:12 +1000
-
Ellie Nardino signed 2026-09-23 09:09:01 +1000
-
Chelsea Rowe signed 2026-09-23 09:03:34 +1000
-
Alexandra Webb signed 2026-09-23 08:45:57 +1000
-
Lucy Payne signed 2026-09-23 07:45:23 +1000
-
Gabrielle Tattersall signed 2026-09-23 07:35:26 +1000
-
Emma Mahoney signed 2026-09-23 07:13:21 +1000
-
Brianna Baker signed 2026-09-23 07:13:04 +1000
-
Robin Eberhard signed 2026-09-23 07:13:00 +1000
-
Angela Dwyer signed 2026-09-23 06:59:04 +1000