The Wire

Australia is one of the last OECD countries to embrace paid parental leave. The Labor Government is making some attempt to rectify this by allocating $260 million to new parents in the coming budget. This will give parents up to 18 weeks of minimum wage after the birth of their child. But this funding will not hit the streets until 2011. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is featured up first in this story, discussing possible reasons for this deferment. She is followed by Marian Baird, Associate Professor in work and organizational studies at the University of Sydney, who discusses to what extent the private sector has managed to institute paid parental leave.