✍️ 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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Prue Jones signed 2026-09-07 21:13:04 +1000
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Victoria Owens signed 2026-09-07 21:08:49 +1000
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Seona Murphy signed 2026-09-07 20:47:12 +1000
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Chelsea Webb signed 2026-09-07 20:43:48 +1000
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Bonnie Kerr signed 2026-09-07 20:43:30 +1000
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Christie OToole signed 2026-09-07 20:41:47 +1000
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Cameron Grimes signed 2026-09-07 20:36:47 +1000
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Jessica Mitchell signed 2026-09-07 20:31:09 +1000
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Marc Zagami signed 2026-09-07 20:20:46 +1000
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Amy Bowman Lynch signed 2026-09-07 20:15:26 +1000
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Karyn Flitton signed 2026-09-07 20:03:33 +1000
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Sarah Faiman Faiman signed 2026-09-07 20:00:00 +1000
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Stacey Carter signed 2026-09-07 19:59:12 +1000Also need to consider the dads that are entitled to no paid leave if their partner has not met the work requirement. I did not meet this as I was spending my time homeschooling and raising other young children. I really felt the lack of value the government sees in stay at home mothers.
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Lucy Spring signed 2026-09-07 19:55:49 +1000
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Patrice Stamell signed 2026-09-07 19:54:40 +1000
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Megan Parker signed 2026-09-07 19:53:04 +1000
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Nicole Pates signed 2026-09-07 19:51:46 +1000
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Jedd Dow signed 2026-09-07 19:43:01 +1000
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Meg Perelaer signed 2026-09-07 19:26:28 +1000
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Timothy Daniels signed 2026-09-07 19:24:05 +1000This is vitally important as a father that has had the good fortune of having primary parental leave for both of my kids.
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Katelyn Judd signed 2026-09-07 19:23:03 +1000
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Matthew Royal signed 2026-09-07 19:19:23 +1000crazy how a company i left had 16 weeks parental leave for dads and now the company i work for only offers 2 weeks.
those 16 weeks were the best thing for my daughters, I will be shocked to discover what 2 weeks is like when number 3 comes along -
Lauren Gedye signed 2026-09-07 19:03:11 +1000
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Mikaela Kremer signed 2026-09-07 18:58:29 +1000
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Roxy Bader signed 2026-09-07 18:42:01 +1000
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Carley Harman signed 2026-09-07 18:19:42 +1000
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Monique Theunissen signed 2026-09-07 18:19:29 +1000
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Gina Yates signed 2026-09-07 18:10:55 +1000
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Ruby Laxton signed 2026-09-07 18:05:39 +1000
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Zac Harb signed 2026-09-07 17:47:53 +1000