✍️ 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 are taking that case to Parliament House. We want your name on the list we hand over.
Here For It. From Day One.
Read the new ‘More Time’ With Dad report
People who have signed the petition
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Chelsea Todd signed 2026-09-05 07:23:03 +1000
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Julie-Anne Macintyre signed 2026-09-05 06:58:13 +1000
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Rebecca Muser signed 2026-09-05 05:39:06 +1000
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Tara Draper signed 2026-09-05 05:09:54 +1000
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Helen McNally signed 2026-09-05 00:25:10 +1000
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Meg Liston signed 2026-09-04 23:38:15 +1000
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Sarina Lowe signed 2026-09-04 22:48:21 +1000
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Allisa Inwood signed 2026-09-04 22:46:54 +1000
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Ella Huisman signed 2026-09-04 22:40:23 +1000
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Ellyce Denn signed 2026-09-04 22:07:53 +1000Yes yes yes
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Thitikwan Suphithakkul signed 2026-09-04 21:58:34 +1000
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Christabel Richards-neville signed 2026-09-04 21:46:09 +1000
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Nikita Deshpande signed 2026-09-04 21:37:24 +1000
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Dawna Wright signed 2026-09-04 21:21:39 +1000Parenting isn’t a ’women’s issue’ – it’s a family issue. Until we treat Mums and Dads equally as parents at home, we won’t / can’t have equality for women and men as executives in the workplace.
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Alex Bennett signed 2026-09-04 21:09:37 +1000
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Andrea Bombino signed 2026-09-04 21:06:20 +1000
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Sophie Lawson signed 2026-09-04 21:02:29 +1000Having a non-birthing parent on leave for an extended period of time is vital for so many reasons – both in the immediate sense while the birthing parent is recovering and longer term, where household rhythms and parenting skills are figured out and learned. Increasing the amount of paid leave available to non-birthing parents would be life changing for so many families!
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Anatara Revell signed 2026-09-04 20:52:02 +1000
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Jacqueline Convery signed 2026-09-04 20:34:27 +1000
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Caitlin Borthwick signed 2026-09-04 19:17:13 +1000
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Carina O’Brien signed 2026-09-04 18:55:55 +1000Support parents!!
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Josie Lawrence signed 2026-09-04 18:48:13 +1000
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Kylie Magin signed 2026-09-04 18:35:44 +1000
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Kristin Lutje signed 2026-09-04 18:35:05 +1000
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Bronte Calman signed 2026-09-04 17:33:37 +1000
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Krystal Atwell signed 2026-09-04 17:14:54 +1000
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Michele Nugent signed 2026-09-04 17:00:53 +1000
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Courtney moore signed 2026-09-04 16:49:42 +1000
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Lisa M signed 2026-09-04 16:48:00 +1000
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Nicola Lourens signed 2026-09-04 16:39:52 +1000