IT’S TIME TO DELIVER FOR DADS

Clementine and Tom were thrilled to be expecting their first child. Both worked at large law firms with generous Paid Parental Leave (PPL) policies, so the couple mapped out how they would manage the adjustment to a family of three. Clementine would take six months off, Tom would take three months and then they’d each work four days and arrange childcare. Clementine’s bosses approved her request for six months’ parental leave on the spot. Yet when Tom told his male boss he wanted to take three months PPL, it was a different story. “We have that policy, but no dads have actually used it,” he was told. “It wouldn’t be good for your career.” Tom was shocked. “The policy existed but the expectation was clearly that mums take time off and effectively deal with the babies while men keep on working,” he says.

For many Australian families, the male breadwinner paradigm remains dominant, even in 2019. “The use of parental leave by fathers and male partners in Australia is very low by global standards,” CEO of Parents at Work Emma Walsh says. “We lag [behind] the [rest of the] world on PPL. Not only was Australia one of the last countries to introduce a policy,