We conducted research with parents to:

• inform the next tranche of paid parental leave legislative changes
• understand how Australian families make decisions about parental leave, in particular, use of the national paid parental leave scheme
• understand fathers’ views on using paid parental leave in the past (i.e the Dad and partner pay scheme) and the future
• understand what families want from a paid parental leave scheme and why
• test family views on how the 1 July 2023 changes in the design of paid parental leave and how the additional 6 weeks of paid parental leave to be rolled out by July 2026 would be best allocated, especially the amount of reserved leave for fathers.

This report provides information on what Australian parents (fathers, mothers, same sex and single parents) say about the current paid parental leave scheme and what they would like in a future scheme. It reports on their lived experiences and understandings of paid parental leave. The research informs our recommendations which provide a guide to the ongoing development of a paid parental leave system that meets the needs of Australian parents and supports greater gender equality in work and care.

As noted in our first report, Next Steps, there is little recent systematic data on the decisions made by parents in the use of paid parental leave in Australia to guide policy design. This report provides evidence from a small study of 10 Australian families with young children. It is the first research project to ask parents about their recent experience using the national paid parental leave system and to ask about the future design. The study puts fathers (where present) at the centre of the data collection and analysis to inform the design of the additional 6 weeks of paid parental leave to be rolled out by 2026. A full description of the method is provided in Appendix 1.

Further research is required to evaluate the Australian experience of paid parental leave use, how households combine the national scheme with employer schemes, interactions between the two schemes, and household preferences for shared care of babies and very young children. In particular, research on the use of reserved non-transferable leave by fathers is needed, and whether or not it is taken concurrently with the mother or solely by the father. As noted in our Next Steps report, the international evidence shows that it is fathers’ solo use of parental leave that drives change in father care behaviours and delivers greater gender equality between parents in the care for young children and paid work.

Employers’ views are not included in this report but research with employers on their response to the policy redesign and issues this may pose to business and employee relations is critical for paid parental leave to support the future of work. A large-scale survey addressing these issues supplemented with qualitative research would be ideal.