✍️ 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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Alexandra Shepherd signed 2026-09-28 09:10:14 +1000I believe that if we are truely going to be looking at equality and fairness then we need no be mandating 50/50 care non transferable. Frankly 12 months doesn’t cut it. It’s the minimum. Babies are breast feeding up to 2 years. That means they need one on one support for 2 years min. Let’s be better than Russia, Sweden, and Finland.
We should be aiming to be the best, to make it a benefit to have a child. Not a hinderence. -
Ash Rayner signed 2026-09-28 08:15:11 +1000I’m a proud doting dad of 5 and 2 weeks is nowhere near enough for dads!
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Nikita Sullivan signed 2026-09-28 07:58:41 +1000
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Louise Knight signed 2026-09-28 07:39:06 +1000
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Rhea Albuquerque signed 2026-09-28 07:13:53 +1000
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Megan Polidano signed 2026-09-28 06:52:45 +1000
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Sarah Matthews signed 2026-09-28 05:25:47 +1000
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Shannon Shaw signed 2026-09-27 22:27:58 +1000
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Jessie Stone signed 2026-09-27 22:22:15 +1000
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Kaesy maihi signed 2026-09-27 20:46:32 +1000
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Virginia Strickland signed 2026-09-27 19:28:30 +1000
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Michael Gregory signed 2026-09-27 19:07:19 +1000
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Meibelle Gregory signed 2026-09-27 19:00:49 +1000
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Daniel Hanrahan signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-09-27 18:32:06 +1000
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Anh Tran signed 2026-09-27 18:16:05 +1000
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Nicole Nash signed 2026-09-27 17:42:29 +1000
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Megan McIntosh signed 2026-09-27 05:52:38 +1000
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Jasmine Blakenburg signed 2026-09-26 22:24:04 +1000
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Bradley McHugh signed 2026-09-26 21:40:17 +1000
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Brent Moloney signed 2026-09-26 21:37:14 +1000
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Charlotte Hand signed 2026-09-26 20:14:10 +1000
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Stephen Henderson signed 2026-09-26 19:46:31 +1000
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Summer Henderson signed 2026-09-26 19:24:29 +1000
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Jessica Tame signed 2026-09-26 18:22:58 +1000
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Selina Pitt signed 2026-09-26 17:14:37 +1000
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Olivia Hall signed 2026-09-26 17:09:18 +1000
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Dylan Wootton signed via Amber Wilson 2026-09-26 16:32:30 +1000
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Gabrielle Jones signed 2026-09-26 14:53:27 +1000
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Jess Quirk signed 2026-09-26 09:57:07 +1000
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Elise Binnington signed 2026-09-26 09:11:51 +1000