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A case study of regulatory confusion: Paid parental leave and public servants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Sue Williamson
Sue Williamson*
Affiliation:
UNSW Canberra, Australia
*
Sue Williamson, School of Business, UNSW Canberra, PO Box 7916, Canberra BC, ACT 2610, Australia. Email: s.williamson@adfa.edu.au
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Abstract

Australian policy on paid parental leave (PPL) has been highly controversial in recent years. While a universal PPL scheme become operative in 2011 under the Australian Labor Party, alternative policies continued to be proposed by the leader of the Liberal Party. These ranged from an expanded, comparatively generous PPL scheme, to one which would maintain the status quo, to a scheme with lesser provisions than are currently available. This article examines the PPL policy which would have provided the most generous entitlements to employees, and considers how public servants may have fared had it been introduced. The proposal would have meant that public servants would no longer have been able to access PPL provisions in their industrial instruments, but would only have been entitled to the legislated provisions. This article assesses whether public servants may have gained or lost under such a change, and then considers the broader issue of the most appropriate avenues to regulate public sector employment conditions. While a rare opportunity for enhanced PPL has been lost, this may be the best outcome in ensuring that unions can continue to bargain collectively for this important provision and ongoing improvements to it.

Keywords

J51J58J81Collective bargainingequality bargaininggender equalitypaid maternity leavepaid parental leavepublic sector employmentworking conditions
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 3: Special Collection: Women’s Agency at Work , September 2015 , pp. 430 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015

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