✍️ 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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Karissa Marshall signed 2026-09-24 22:06:27 +1000
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Caroline Lobo signed 2026-09-24 22:04:50 +1000
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Amanda Caroline Bellorio signed 2026-09-24 22:02:03 +1000
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Cassandra Papotto signed 2026-09-24 21:55:12 +1000
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Chloe Burgess signed 2026-09-24 21:40:57 +1000
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Katherine Hanson signed 2026-09-24 21:37:08 +1000
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Clare Balderston signed 2026-09-24 21:37:06 +1000
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Lily Dempster signed 2026-09-24 21:32:53 +1000
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Elly Whisson signed 2026-09-24 21:20:24 +1000
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Olivia Strelein signed 2026-09-24 20:58:43 +1000
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Larissa signed 2026-09-24 20:58:18 +1000
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Amy Erlandsen signed 2026-09-24 20:54:35 +1000
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Scott Ryan signed 2026-09-24 20:48:13 +1000This is a no brainer. Do it and do it now
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Rhianon Crombie signed 2026-09-24 20:46:54 +1000
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Susan Mitchell signed 2026-09-24 20:45:48 +1000
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Blair Edmondson signed 2026-09-24 20:45:45 +1000
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Anna Harris signed 2026-09-24 20:43:45 +1000
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