✍️ 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
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Anne Barker signed 2026-07-27 17:59:45 +1000I will support this all the way. Essential for healthy families and…. a healthy country.
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Judy Schneider signed 2026-07-27 17:33:29 +1000
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Tim Davidson signed 2026-07-27 17:26:32 +1000
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Claire Wood signed 2026-07-27 17:03:10 +1000
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Lavender Bates signed via Siobhan Moran-McFarlane 2026-07-27 16:58:12 +1000
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Susan Bryant signed 2026-07-27 16:56:38 +1000
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Ella Riguet signed 2026-07-27 16:38:06 +1000
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Caitlin Fricot-Hockey signed via Siobhan Moran-McFarlane 2026-07-27 16:36:13 +1000This would change lives for the better. It will enrich our children
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Charles Ablitt signed 2026-07-27 16:36:07 +1000
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Katie Johnston signed 2026-07-27 16:35:33 +1000
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Amanda Van de Saram signed 2026-07-27 16:32:08 +1000
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Sophie Bament signed 2026-07-27 15:54:30 +1000
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Ben Jackson signed 2026-07-27 15:46:53 +1000
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Amanda Coulston signed 2026-07-27 15:46:50 +1000
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Stephanie Sponner signed 2026-07-27 15:38:37 +1000
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Alexandra Brown signed 2026-07-27 15:32:15 +1000
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Emily Kapac signed 2026-07-27 15:32:02 +1000
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Madeleine Huston signed 2026-07-27 15:30:56 +1000
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Bernadette W signed 2026-07-27 15:28:32 +1000
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Michael West signed 2026-07-27 15:26:59 +1000
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Raffi Jones signed 2026-07-27 15:26:41 +1000
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Riley Bennett signed 2026-07-27 15:09:51 +1000
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Siobhan Moran-McFarlane signed 2026-07-27 15:06:47 +1000Parental leave pushes many working families into financial hardship – if the government want people to have more children, they need to support that. In Australia in 2026 the cost of living is making the choice to have one or more children extremely difficult – even for those with good jobs. It’s unacceptable.
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Karl Williamson signed 2026-07-27 15:03:24 +1000
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Debra Rosicky signed 2026-07-27 15:02:51 +1000
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Vicki Scholes signed 2026-07-27 15:02:29 +1000I don’t think there should be a limit on get paid patantel leave for all mums especially those that are doing a great job staying hon to raise their children. It’s discrimination to allow working mothers that have better incomes in their families have paid leave and not stay at home mums that could use a helping hand when adding to their family so I oppose paid maternity leave unless stay at home mums can have it to. There is so much help for working mums and very little for stay at home mums that are helping population and choose to raise their children themselves. All or none is the best policy.
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Ingrid Bean signed 2026-07-27 15:01:19 +1000
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Kerry Heubel signed 2026-07-27 14:56:23 +1000I loved my job but I hated having to go back to work when I knew my daughter was not yet ready for separation. I needed more time to prepare her for a move to childcare.
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Fiona Ninnes signed 2026-07-27 14:56:09 +1000
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Brian Gibson signed 2026-07-27 14:50:46 +1000