✍️ 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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Sandra Gale signed 2026-07-03 10:10:36 +1000
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Tahlija Macdonald signed 2026-07-02 18:54:24 +1000
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Miranda Pugh signed 2026-07-02 17:02:48 +1000
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Sal Daina signed 2026-07-02 15:40:49 +1000
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Ellie Gough signed 2026-07-02 15:35:24 +1000
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David McMaster signed 2026-07-02 13:47:18 +1000
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Izzy Manfield signed 2026-07-02 13:34:20 +1000With no minimum paid parental leave in the Fair Work Act 2009, many parents will rely on the scheme as their only paid leave once they have their baby.
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Greg Kimball signed 2026-07-02 13:27:37 +1000
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Laura Wright signed 2026-07-02 13:14:54 +1000
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Kartikeya Chandra Shrikanth Neppalli signed 2026-07-02 12:03:23 +1000
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Peta Stewart signed 2026-07-02 11:44:54 +1000
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Emma Herd signed 2026-07-02 11:34:16 +1000
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Joe Nagy signed 2026-07-02 09:35:13 +1000
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Wendy Hicks signed 2026-07-02 08:59:43 +1000
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Molly Roberts signed 2026-07-02 08:24:59 +1000
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Janie Jordan signed 2026-07-02 06:02:46 +1000
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Keith D'Alessandro signed 2026-07-02 01:57:02 +1000
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Rachel Toyer signed 2026-07-02 01:50:00 +1000
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Nizza Siano signed 2026-07-01 22:35:56 +1000
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Paige Jones signed 2026-07-01 21:58:24 +1000
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Dee Cropley signed 2026-07-01 21:43:02 +1000
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Tony Konjarski signed 2026-07-01 21:19:11 +1000
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Brennah Anderson signed 2026-07-01 20:55:02 +1000
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Neil Rasmussen signed 2026-07-01 20:45:08 +1000
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Sophie Symonds signed 2026-07-01 20:32:56 +1000
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Angela Lewis signed 2026-07-01 18:56:33 +1000
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Jessica Dyball signed 2026-07-01 18:48:45 +1000
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Rachel MacDonald signed 2026-07-01 18:13:03 +1000
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Angela Dodd signed 2026-07-01 18:06:40 +1000
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Cecilia Blakeley signed 2026-07-01 17:55:34 +1000