Government legislation: 26 weeks and then an “abyss”
Over the past three years, the federal government has been incrementally expanding the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave scheme. The final scheduled step lands in July 2026, when the entitlement increases again and reaches 26 weeks, paid at the minimum wage. After that, there is no roadmap for further reform currently tabled.
Walsh describes the post‑July environment as an “abyss”. Prior to this, for more than a decade, parental leave policy settings were effectively frozen, and her concern is that without a clear forward plan, Australia risks drifting into another lost decade on parental leave reform.
This matters because Australia is already lagging behind comparable economies. According to the OECD, the **average total paid parental leave entitlement across member countries is around 52.7 weeks, when paid maternity, parental and home-care leave are combined. By contrast, Australia will offer 26 weeks, effectively half the OECD average duration, and at the minimum wage.
Countries such as Canada, France, Sweden, Iceland and Japan provide families with significantly longer periods of paid leave, often close to – or exceeding – a full year, supported through national policy settings designed to promote child wellbeing, workforce attachment and gender equality.
In response, Walsh and sector allies are preparing a renewed policy push that will play out over 2026 and beyond. Walsh wants to see a national move to 52 weeks of paid parental leave, with responsibility shared between government and employers rather than sitting predominantly with families.