🔥 1,500 people have signed
12 months of paid parental leave - sign the petition
1,500 signatures
1,500 of 2,500 goal

✍️ 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.

Read the new ‘More Time’ With Dad report

People who have signed the petition
Dawna Wright
Alex Bennett
Andrea Bombino
Sophie Lawson
Anatara Revell
Jacqueline Convery
Caitlin Borthwick
Carina O’Brien
Josie Lawrence
Kylie Magin
Kristin Lutje
Bronte Calman
Krystal Atwell
Michele Nugent
Courtney moore
Lisa M
Nicola Lourens
Maddison Gale
Bronwyn Moss
Leila Buchanan
Lauren Davies
Inga Melzer
Sandra Drewsen
Sarah Spray
Georgia Lowes
Georgina Werninghaus
Marie knight
Renn Holland
Nick Grindrod
Samantha McMahon

Will you sign?

Recent responses

  • Dawna Wright
    signed 2026-09-04 21:21:39 +1000
    Parenting 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.
  • Alex Bennett
    signed 2026-09-04 21:09:37 +1000
  • Andrea Bombino
    signed 2026-09-04 21:06:20 +1000
  • Sophie Lawson
    signed 2026-09-04 21:02:29 +1000
    Having a non-birthing parent on leave for an extended period of time is vital for so many reasons – both in the immediate sense while the birthing parent is recovering and longer term, where household rhythms and parenting skills are figured out and learned. Increasing the amount of paid leave available to non-birthing parents would be life changing for so many families!
  • Anatara Revell
    signed 2026-09-04 20:52:02 +1000
  • Jacqueline Convery
    signed 2026-09-04 20:34:27 +1000
  • Caitlin Borthwick
    signed 2026-09-04 19:17:13 +1000
  • Carina O’Brien
    signed 2026-09-04 18:55:55 +1000
    Support parents!!
  • Josie Lawrence
    signed 2026-09-04 18:48:13 +1000
  • Kylie Magin
    signed 2026-09-04 18:35:44 +1000
  • Kristin Lutje
    signed 2026-09-04 18:35:05 +1000
  • Bronte Calman
    signed 2026-09-04 17:33:37 +1000
  • Krystal Atwell
    signed 2026-09-04 17:14:54 +1000
  • Michele Nugent
    signed 2026-09-04 17:00:53 +1000
  • Courtney moore
    signed 2026-09-04 16:49:42 +1000
  • Lisa M
    signed 2026-09-04 16:48:00 +1000
  • Nicola Lourens
    signed 2026-09-04 16:39:52 +1000
  • Maddison Gale
    signed 2026-09-04 16:16:12 +1000
  • Bronwyn Moss
    signed 2026-09-04 16:14:23 +1000
    Access to parental leave directly reduces the rates of post natal depression. Current policies literally support the development of PND. I can’t believe this needs to be spelled out in 2026.
  • Leila Buchanan
    signed 2026-09-04 16:05:09 +1000
  • Lauren Davies
    signed 2026-09-04 16:03:09 +1000
  • Inga Melzer
    signed 2026-09-04 15:51:41 +1000
  • Sandra Drewsen
    signed 2026-09-04 15:44:54 +1000
  • Sarah Spray
    signed 2026-09-04 15:29:15 +1000
  • Georgia Lowes
    signed 2026-09-04 15:26:48 +1000
  • Georgina Werninghaus
    signed 2026-09-04 15:00:04 +1000
    We just had our first baby and the first 2 weeks that my partner was able to take off was so helpful, but also meant that he was learning at the same time as me! This would make such a difference for partners learning the mental load of children as they grow, and help with relationship challenges too!

    From a child development perspective, I am a paediatric OT and can see the benefits of secure attachment if parents have more time and capacity (physical, financial and emotional!) to be able to learn their child’s needs without the financial and career related stresses that have become a common part of parenting in this age.
  • Marie knight
    signed 2026-09-04 14:58:16 +1000
    Please give our country’s greatest resource, our children, the best start possible. Give their parents a financially supported start to creating wonderful human beings.
  • Renn Holland
    signed 2026-09-04 14:58:02 +1000
  • Nick Grindrod
    signed 2026-09-04 14:57:49 +1000
  • Samantha McMahon
    signed 2026-09-04 14:51:26 +1000