Women
HREOC maternity leave report
This morning Pru Goward, the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination
Commissioner, delivered her final report and recommendations on paid maternity leave. The NSW PSA has welcomed the report - with reservations.
For a fact sheet and copy of the report click on the web page below.
The NSW Public Service Association has welcomed the release today of "A Time to Value", Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward's final report on a national scheme of paid maternity leave.
The recommendations of the report for a 14 week scheme, in line with ILO standards, is something that the PSA, and the broader union movement have been pushing for a number of years now. We believe that like sick leave or long service leave, paid maternity leave is crucial entitlement
for women workers.
"It is a national disgrace that Australia remains only one of two OECD countries without a national paid maternity leave scheme and we call on the Federal Government to adopt the recommendations of the report forthwith," said Maurie O'Sullivan, PSA General Secretary.
While we are disappointed that the recommendations of the report only include payment to the minimum wage level, the scheme proposed by Ms Goward will go a long way to ensuring that working mothers are able to spend an appropriate amount of time with their new babies, recover
properly from childbirth and establish breastfeeding.
"We call on the NSW Government to respond to this report by providing their own employees in the NSW public sector with 14 weeks of paid leave, in line with ILO standards", Mr O'Sullivan said. "The PSA has been campaigning on this issue on behalf of our members for too long now, and the time has come for the NSW Government to do the right
thing."
"With a State election on the horizon, the NSW Government must put its money where its mouth is in terms of supporting working families.
What is clear from Ms Goward's report is that funding a decent amount of paid maternity leave doesn't cost the earth and has huge benefits for working families."
"Federal Labor is already committed to introducing a 14 week scheme of paid maternity leave. Bob Carr and NSW Labor must follow the lead of their federal colleagues and demonstrate some real support for working
families in this state."
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