E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Topics: Superannuation on Paid Parental Leave; Early childhood education; Productivity Commission report; Family Domestic and Sexual Violence frontline worker survey.
TOM CONNELL, HOST: Australian parents will now have superannuation paid on their Paid Parental Leave. That's from mid next year. Joining me now is Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Thanks for your time. Look, the advocates I talked to in this space talk about equality – but also the ultimate flexibility. Is there one thing left in this area? And that is for paid parents to get Paid Parental Leave at their full pay? Is that an ambition of the Government or not?
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Firstly, I'd say that we've made significant changes to Paid Parental Leave over our term in Government. We've not only made it more flexible, improved the means testing, but we’ve also extended it to 26-weeks [by 2026]. Of course, that is at the minimum wage and paying superannuation is an important step. Of course, we've got to remember that in Australia people actually also may get superannuation from their employer-paid Paid Parental Leave. And so these complement each other and they need to work together. And so I'm always looking at ways that our government Paid Parental Leave can work together with, of course, company Paid Parental Leave.
TOM CONNELL: Would you hope that given this is now paid for by the Government, more companies can actually go ‘we'll up our offer, we'll pay you your full salary because we've got less impost’. Is that the sort of trickle-down you're hoping for?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, I am hoping that there are companies and organisations that will consider adding to the Government's Paid Parental Leave scheme. Our Government Paid Parental Leave scheme is a safety net, but I would encourage companies to consider how they boost it, how they improve it. What we do know is companies that do have good Paid Parental Leave offerings actually can attract more staff. They are more attractive workplaces to work in. So, I think workplaces should look at this. Around 60 per cent of employers offer access to a Paid Parental Leave workplace entitlement. But I obviously would like to see that expand more.
TOM CONNELL: The even bigger thing for many parents, of course, is what happens after all that to do with childcare. The Productivity Commission report came back with a pretty in-depth examination. They're not saying, well, they're saying that the path of so-called universal childcare payments wouldn't be all that fair and would be really going a lot to the top end. So, they're looking at, I guess, a similar principle and saying, here's a better way to do it. What have you made of the report? Has it given you food for thought?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Of course the Government is considering this report really closely, along with the ACCC report that will be handed in a few months. We want to ensure that every child, no matter where they live, gets access to high quality early childhood education. That's really critically important. It's critically important for children and critically important for workforce participation. And so these two elements are really important. But of course, what the Productivity Commission did show is that many of those who might benefit from access to early childhood education are not able to access it. So, look, we'll be looking at that report very closely. We've, of course, already made some really big strides in increasing the pay for early educators, for example. Now you might say, well, how does that benefit? Well, the Productivity Commission showed that investing in the workforce was critical to ensure the benefits flowed on to children. So, these are all linked and we'll be looking at it as a Government very closely.
TOM CONNELL: You have obviously a big pull on staff and attracting them, so that's obviously a factor as well. So, you mentioned getting access to it. It also said. the Productivity Commission report, to get rid of the activity test. Is that something you'd consider. Albeit people will say, ‘hang on, this person's, you know, not even working’, but it's about getting that start for the child and making sure they get the socialising aspect, the education aspect as well, so they're not starting school often behind.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: We’ll, of course, look at the Productivity Commission. The activity test was something that was examined by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce. Of course, that's something that Minister Clare and the Government will consider as part of the Productivity Commission's review. But I think your point went to early education is important for children and it's also important to ensure, particularly women can return to work. So, there's these two really important benefits and we need to make sure everyone gets the opportunity for those benefits.
TOM CONNELL: Bit of a price tag on this - $5 billion a year. Is that out of reach for now. Is the Budget just too stretched? Are we talking about this being years away?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: We’ve already made significant investments in early childhood education. I mentioned the wage increase for early educators. We've also looked at how we make childcare cheaper. Along with that wage increase, there needs to be a commitment by centres to cap their fees and not have too large a fee increases. So, we've already really been looking at this area and this Productivity Commission report is another thing we'll clearly look at, along with the ACCC report that will be handed to Government.
TOM CONNELL: Just finally, there's a story out today around a survey of frontline domestic, family and sexual violence workers. I'm just interested because the last survey found only 22 per cent of frontline workers found their formal qualifications help them deal specifically with people affected by violence. That's a very low number, so I know a new survey is going along, but what happened to the last survey? Has something happened to sort of change that mismatch?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: One of the areas that the Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commissioner talked about in her Yearly Report to the Parliament, was to really understand our national workforce. Often the workforce is different in different states and territories. The qualification requirements are different. Not every worker actually has a qualification. And so we've got to look right across both the specialised and non-specialised family and domestic violence sector and say, what is it? What are the qualifications you feel you need? What is the type of investment that could help you? Where is the distribution across the different states and territories and how does that all lead to better services for women and children? Escaping family and domestic violence?
TOM CONNELL: Amanda Rishworth, appreciate your time today. Thank you.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Thank you.
TOM CONNELL: If this story has raised any concerns for you. You can contact the domestic violence and sexual assault helpline 1800RESPECT.