✍️ 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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sue thatcher signed 2026-07-01 15:32:01 +1000
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Chantelle Coleman signed 2026-07-01 15:31:05 +1000
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Patricia O'Dowd signed 2026-07-01 15:30:34 +1000
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Laura Boehm signed 2026-07-01 15:24:59 +1000
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Charlotte Casey signed 2026-07-01 15:22:54 +1000
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Melissa Reagan-Dart signed 2026-07-01 15:14:10 +1000
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David Everett signed 2026-07-01 14:53:34 +1000
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Kristy Hanley signed 2026-07-01 14:22:02 +1000Yes!!! And take a load off the daycare system. That is all.
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Lucy Tucker signed 2026-07-01 14:07:12 +1000
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Carmen Baldwin signed 2026-07-01 13:39:44 +1000
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Cat Smith signed 2026-07-01 13:20:22 +1000
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Sammy Brown signed 2026-07-01 13:16:07 +1000
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Alana Morse signed 2026-07-01 13:10:28 +1000
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Clare Arthur signed 2026-07-01 13:10:24 +1000
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Rachel Ezzy signed 2026-07-01 13:09:42 +1000
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Charley Beikoff signed 2026-07-01 13:07:55 +1000
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Paigen Neilson signed 2026-07-01 12:43:12 +1000
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Maryjean Whyte signed 2026-07-01 08:57:35 +1000
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