✍️ 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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Stephen lake signed 2026-09-11 23:13:57 +1000
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Darren Walker signed 2026-09-11 22:05:58 +1000
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Helena Chen signed 2026-09-11 16:42:30 +1000
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Lizzy Santos signed 2026-09-11 16:09:43 +1000
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Peta Danvers signed 2026-09-11 15:58:19 +1000
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Maddi McKay signed 2026-09-11 15:52:18 +1000
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Sarah Gugele-Barnett signed 2026-09-11 13:42:25 +1000
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Meg Turville signed 2026-09-11 10:56:48 +1000
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Peta (please use a pseudonym if publishing) Kwok signed 2026-09-11 09:23:55 +1000
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Katie Hay signed 2026-09-11 08:38:17 +1000
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Katherine Ettershank signed 2026-09-11 08:33:54 +1000
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Anna Meehan signed 2026-09-11 07:58:11 +1000
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Laura Waistell signed 2026-09-10 22:53:11 +1000
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Catherine Candiloro signed 2026-09-10 20:56:50 +1000
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Catey Warren signed 2026-09-10 20:53:48 +1000
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Clare Walsh signed 2026-09-10 20:45:19 +1000
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James Harrison signed 2026-09-10 20:27:52 +1000
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Ellen Harrison signed 2026-09-10 20:25:05 +1000Dads/ non birthing parent need to be given the opportunity to be present especially in the early stages after their child is born, I wholeheartedly believe this would reduce instances of PPD in both partners!
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Ben Jackson signed 2026-09-10 20:13:43 +1000
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Louise Dunham signed 2026-09-10 16:52:32 +1000
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Jorja Scott signed 2026-09-10 15:22:35 +1000
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Sarah Moran signed 2026-09-10 14:44:15 +1000
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Pemay Johnsen signed 2026-09-10 13:31:36 +1000The APS union CPSU won during last bargaining round equal parental leave for both parents and have just secured it during this year’s negotiations, but we need to move forward- Increasing the time parents spend with children reduce the behavioural down spiral that ECEC workers are reckoning with
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Bertram Jenkins signed 2026-09-10 13:23:36 +1000Dads need time to connect and spend time with their babies
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Michael Voss signed 2026-09-10 13:22:25 +1000
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Ruth Phillips signed 2026-09-10 13:16:56 +1000
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Tijana Seiffert signed 2026-09-10 12:55:00 +1000
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Kasia Marciszewski signed 2026-09-10 12:39:16 +1000
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Wick Collins signed 2026-09-10 11:38:38 +1000
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Cara Nightingale signed 2026-09-10 11:10:57 +1000