Dear friends and supporters,
Wow. Last week we travelled to Canberra to launch our research report 'Making Australia the best place in the world to be a parent' and it was an exhilarating few days.
There was the virtual launch event, which you can watch here if you missed it, as well as a press conference with two Independent MPs Zali Steggall and Helen Haines. There was terrific coverage in The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, a top story in The Guardian, a segment on The Project and a number of radio segments. You can have a listen/read/watch here.
I got the chance to meet/brief 12 MPs, including Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Dr Fiona Martin, Jim Chalmers, Ged Kearney and Tanya Plibersek. I also spent a few hours at the National Press Club where our Thrive By Five partners, Jay Weatherill and Nicola Forrest, delivered heartfelt, rising speeches on the greatest economic and social reform in our grasp: making high quality early childhood education and care universally accessible.
A highlight of my trip was spending a morning with the leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese, the shadow minister for early childhood education and care, Amanda Rishworth, the member for Canberra, Alicia Payne as well as a few local families all too familiar with the challenges of raising a child in Australia right now.
As someone who has been passionate about putting these issues on the national agenda for a looo-oooong time it was so heartening to present our research with members of parliament who get it. 
It was a tough week to be in Parliament House with very serious allegations being levelled by a young former Liberal staffer; the atmosphere was undoubtedly heavy. As it needed - and needs - to be. In my view it makes the case we were presenting even more compelling.
Before heading down there I knew we had a fantastic piece of research to showcase; but presenting a piece of research with tangible, productive solutions felt wonderful. Equitable, meaningful, transformative reform is what Australia needs right now and this report offers exactly that.
The report, prepared by Equity Economics and supported by the United Workers Union, includes 4 policy recommendations that would be absolute game-changers: for children, parents, families, employers, Australian society and the economy. Promise!
They include:
■ Universal health and wellbeing support for parents and children through pregnancy and the early years;
■ A paid parental leave scheme that provides one year of paid leave to be equally shared between both parents;
■ Free and high-quality early childhood education and care for all families; and
■ Flexible and supportive workplaces with universal access to paid carers’ leave for sick children.
It is time for a National Parenting Strategy which is why we started a petition calling on Scott Morrison to do better for Aussie parents and children. You can add your name here!
You can find the report and all the crucial information here on our website.
Our mission is to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent and to do that we need you. Thanks for showing up and getting behind issues that matter.
Many thanks,
Georgie Dent
PS. Any support you can offer The Parenthood is gratefully received. Whether it's granting us your time, sharing our content on social media, answering a survey, liking a post or speaking to the media about issues affecting families: it all counts! But we are a small not-for-profit organisation with an ambitious agenda so if you're in a position to make any financial contribution, please consider it an investment in a better future for all Australians. You can donate here.
