✍️ 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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John Filips signed 2026-09-09 11:07:27 +1000
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Mark Ferris signed via Sebastian Costello 2026-09-09 10:36:11 +1000
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Shaqa Morell-Koroi signed 2026-09-09 10:18:14 +1000
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Melissa Morell-Koroi signed 2026-09-09 10:14:45 +1000
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Ruby Anderson-Joyce signed 2026-09-09 10:00:05 +1000
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Sarah Mitsos signed 2026-09-09 07:46:26 +1000
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Rebecca Watson signed 2026-09-09 07:40:27 +1000
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Isabella Ioannidis signed 2026-09-09 06:51:33 +1000
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Michelle Irving signed 2026-09-09 06:39:54 +1000
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Madeleine Gardiner signed 2026-09-09 06:00:34 +1000
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Amy Murray signed 2026-09-09 00:16:18 +1000
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Kim Dinh signed 2026-09-08 22:49:55 +1000
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Lauren Ratini signed 2026-09-08 21:53:19 +1000
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Elise Landau signed 2026-09-08 21:25:24 +1000When we had our twins my partner had only 4 weeks leave. It was an enormous shock to the system when he had to go back to work. I was outnumbered and home alone with the twins, and he was sleep deprived + whilst expecting to go back and perform at (paid) work. We would have been so grateful for any extra time he could have had off, thank you for this petition for future families!
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Rachel Barber signed 2026-09-08 21:09:53 +1000
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Tyler Leo Leo signed 2026-09-08 21:01:27 +1000
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Fredrick Andrews signed 2026-09-08 20:30:43 +1000
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Emma Francis signed 2026-09-08 20:17:51 +1000
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Kathryn Williams signed 2026-09-08 20:15:26 +1000Great initiative
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Imogen Slinger signed 2026-09-08 20:02:50 +1000
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Rachel Crowther signed 2026-09-08 20:00:44 +1000
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Gavin Watson signed 2026-09-08 19:54:31 +1000This is needed!
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Candice Walton signed 2026-09-08 19:44:04 +1000
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Nicole Larkin signed 2026-09-08 19:31:33 +1000A great initiative that addresses significant structural gender inequality in Australian society, this has my full support.
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Ally Leota signed 2026-09-08 19:21:39 +1000
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Nicola Luttrell signed 2026-09-08 18:51:26 +1000
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Mikka Bennett signed 2026-09-08 18:40:16 +1000
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Jodie Daly signed 2026-09-08 18:22:11 +1000
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Michaela Rowland signed 2026-09-08 18:19:55 +1000
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Amanda Pearce signed 2026-09-08 17:38:41 +1000