✍️ 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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Anna Vallieres signed 2026-10-26 10:57:44 +1100
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Jade Ogden signed 2026-10-26 10:39:36 +1100
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Ken Walker signed 2026-10-25 19:31:32 +1100
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Laura Anderson signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-10-25 17:04:33 +1100
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Laura Roberts signed 2026-10-25 08:22:17 +1100
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Sarah Whitworth signed 2026-10-24 20:19:19 +1100
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Queeneth Njoku signed via Wynnie Nwoga 2026-10-24 09:59:16 +1100
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Kathy Xiao signed 2026-10-23 19:20:53 +1100
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Marie Lafferty signed 2026-10-23 13:10:11 +1100
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Bianca Bryson signed 2026-10-23 10:56:14 +1100
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Andrew Boniface signed 2026-10-23 09:38:58 +1100Let’s give the next generation a chance
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Krystal Allerby signed 2026-10-23 08:28:04 +1100
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Tayla Spinelli signed 2026-10-23 06:56:20 +1100
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Ginny Magee signed 2026-10-22 20:33:00 +1100
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Amy Jones signed 2026-10-22 15:18:37 +1100
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hayley kidd signed 2026-10-22 14:08:09 +1100
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tash Read signed 2026-10-22 13:44:56 +1100
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Ivy Chen signed 2026-10-22 12:10:39 +1100I am not a parent, I am a tax-payer.
I want my taxes to contribute towards growing healthy well-adjusted future tax-payers. Having both parents play a role in a bub’s first years makes a huge difference. -
Kate Bugeja signed 2026-10-21 20:03:25 +1100This would significantly help and support parents to care for their children with less stress
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Danielle Reinhardt signed 2026-10-20 10:05:54 +1100
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Tilliah Brooks signed 2026-10-17 13:00:16 +1100
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Kara Baker signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-10-17 09:24:58 +1100
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Sidney Roche signed 2026-10-17 09:10:39 +1100The first four weeks is the easy part of raising a child. Families need to be together for the regressions, the sleepless nights the developments etc.
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Esther Phipps signed 2026-10-17 08:22:50 +1100
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Joke Langmaack signed 2026-10-17 07:07:34 +1100
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Aleksandra Pavlovska signed 2026-10-16 19:39:08 +1100
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MaryEllen Miller signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-10-16 07:06:56 +1100
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Emma Stone signed 2026-10-15 22:41:04 +1100
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Adrienne Monteverde signed 2026-10-15 15:27:46 +1100
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Kerrie Di Marzio signed 2026-10-15 09:50:49 +1100