✍️ 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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Lindsay Gordon signed 2026-09-25 23:39:13 +1000
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Lauren Gleeson signed 2026-09-25 22:27:14 +1000
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Esha Sharma signed 2026-09-25 22:21:15 +1000
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Jemma signed 2026-09-25 21:49:43 +1000
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Laura Georgina Ramirez Chavez signed 2026-09-25 21:41:59 +100012 months of paid parental leave for both parents to enjoy their baby’s first year together. 🐣🤍
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Lorna Moffatt signed 2026-09-25 21:15:04 +1000
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Kirby Gillespie signed 2026-09-25 21:08:16 +1000
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Kara Murphy signed 2026-09-25 20:58:18 +1000
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Miranda Borg signed 2026-09-25 20:42:51 +1000
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Chelsea Morley signed 2026-09-25 20:42:35 +1000
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Zara Draman signed 2026-09-25 20:07:30 +100012 months minimum.
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Jessica Wilkinson signed 2026-09-25 19:53:55 +1000
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James Di Losa signed via Roseanne Cuschieri 2026-09-25 19:19:07 +1000
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Anika Kibria signed 2026-09-25 19:18:41 +1000
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Hannah Camillo sheil signed 2026-09-25 19:15:00 +1000
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Steph Hillyer signed 2026-09-25 18:57:55 +1000
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Samantha Garrisson signed 2026-09-25 18:30:24 +1000Thank you!!
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Ffion Whaley signed 2026-09-25 18:18:12 +1000
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Isabel Diaz signed 2026-09-25 17:42:40 +1000
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Alexis Van Eck signed 2026-09-25 17:35:37 +1000
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Sarah russo signed 2026-09-25 16:15:38 +1000
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Kat Turnbull signed 2026-09-25 15:52:17 +1000
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Renee Le Page signed 2026-09-25 14:46:15 +1000
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Shannon Harper signed 2026-09-25 14:44:43 +1000
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Olivia Upton signed 2026-09-25 13:16:17 +1000
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Yvette Rodriguez signed 2026-09-25 13:15:53 +1000
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Nicole Ross signed 2026-09-25 10:33:54 +1000
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Ellie Perger signed via Wynnie Nwoga 2026-09-25 08:51:50 +1000
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Sinead Mullins signed 2026-09-25 08:50:19 +1000This would have made a huge difference to my family when we had our babies. 10 years on from our first child and I still struggle with the ramifications of slee deprivation and post natal depression and anxiety.
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Catherine Selwood signed 2026-09-25 08:46:48 +1000