07.02.24

I rise today in support of the government's amendments to our nation's Paid Parental Leave scheme through the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill. I fully support and thank the government for their commitment to improving the lives of working families, providing Australian children a good start in life and advancing gender equality.

This bill is to be applauded as it is another step towards a more equitable future. Not only does it increase the number of parental leave weeks a primary carer is able to take but it also increases the number of weeks their partner can take and the number of weeks that can be taken together. This not only is a good outcome for the baby and parents but also will go some way to diminishing the persistent stigma associated with men taking parental leave.

In 2021, women took 88 per cent of primary parental leave. In other words, 88 per cent of the time it was the woman who stayed at home after the birth of a child, and, while parental leave is vital for the health and wellbeing of mum and baby, it is nevertheless a very significant disruption to a woman's career and, therefore, can impact her lifelong financial security. The time away from work is long, is usually taken more than once and is usually at a critical time in the development of a woman's career. Such a disruption leaves women more vulnerable to financial stress or homelessness in later life.

I think it is important to use this opportunity to talk about other significant disruptions that women face throughout their careers. Most of these disruptions are unique to women and have ongoing and compounding effects on their careers, their participation in the workforce and their stability and independence in retirement. Some of the issues I'm going to mention are issues which are not talked about often in this place or, for that matter, anywhere, but they should not be taboo as they are issues which, to one degree or another, affect the lives, health and financial stability of 51 per cent of the population at some stage in their lives and, indeed, also impact the productivity of our nation. If we don't talk about these issues, the management of them will not improve and the outcomes for women will not improve.

We've discussed the disruption to women's careers that having children entails, but let's not forget the nine months of pregnancy prior to giving birth and all the difficulties that that can often entail. Inevitably, pregnancy involves time away from work at the very least for medical appointments and often to deal with debilitating pregnancy related conditions such as hyperemesis—which is otherwise known as terrible, severe morning sickness, with dehydration—gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, anaemia or prenatal depression. That's not to mention the more frequent and mundane impacts like simple tiredness or exhaustion. The tiredness of early pregnancy is like nothing I have ever experienced before or since. Then comes childbirth and parental leave, which, as described, is likely to involve the biggest disruption to a woman's career.

There are also many other medical conditions that can impact women's daily lives for decades. One such example is the descriptively named heavy menstrual bleeding. Around one-quarter of women aged between 30 and 50 suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding. This is bleeding that lasts around seven days or more—quite often more—and results in heavy blood loss of as much as 400 millimetres every month. Let's be clear about what this means. Twenty-five per cent of women suffer from significant blood loss seven days out of every 28, sometimes for decades. That's a quarter of women for a quarter of every month. The blood loss can be so significant that they become severely iron deficient, developing symptoms of fatigue, irritability, dizziness, confusion, depression, headaches and brain fog.

Then there are the 10 per cent of women who suffer from endometriosis, a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. Endometriosis can cause severe pelvic pain and heavy bleeding and can make it difficult to conceive. These symptoms can start as early as a woman's very first period and last until menopause. The average length of time it takes to diagnose endometriosis is seven years and sometimes significantly longer. As you can imagine, this disease can result in the need to take large amounts of time off work, and, concerningly, a recent study undertaken by Western Sydney University found that one in six women who suffer from endometriosis have lost their jobs as a result of the symptoms they experience. And then women move into the next phase of their lives: menopause.

The menopause transition can begin in a woman's early 40s, or even earlier, so not long after the child-bearing years. It usually lasts about seven years, but can last as long as 14 years. Most people associate menopause with hot flushes, but hot flushes are only one of 34 uncomfortable or even distressing physical and psychological symptoms. The severity of symptoms varies, obviously, but 25 per cent of all women suffer severe symptoms. This can compound things at the time of life when women are experiencing the double whammy of caring duties for both children and parents. It all compounds.

The culture of silence on the issue of menopause is causing women to retire prematurely. In a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, the CEO of Menopause Friendly Australia, Grace Molloy, wrote:
Women retire 7.4 years earlier than men, often at the height of their careers and often when menopause hits. Women intend to retire at 64, but on average leave work at 52.

That's my age. She continued: That's one year after the average age of menopause.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Dr Freelander): You don't look that old!
Dr SCAMPS: Ha!

She went on: Almost half of women who retire before 55 cite their health as the reason they stopped work. Ignoring menopause in the workplace is not working.

Research and modelling done by the Australia Institute on superannuation trustees in 2022 estimated that even if just 10 per cent of women retired early because of menopausal symptoms, it would equate to a loss of earnings and super of more than $17 billion. If that figure jumped to 20 per cent, the economic loss would grow to more than $35 billion.

And then there are the caring responsibilities in addition to child care, which are often taken on by women—more by women than men. There's the unpaid work associated with caring for disabled, injured, unwell or elderly relatives. Currently, 12.3 per cent of all women in Australia identify as a carer, and women represent 72 per cent of all primary carers. These medical issues, both separately and together, have a huge impact on women's financial stability over the course of their lives. The poor level of paid parental leave to date has been at the core of financial instability and inequality for women. The superannuation gender gap is also well documented. It's a result not only of the gender pay gap but also, as has been described, because women are more likely to have breaks in employment and are more likely to have work in casual and part-time roles. Disturbingly, the average superannuation payout for women is one-third the payout for men. On average, it's $37,00 for women, compared with men on $110,000. The result of all these factors is that many women are living their final years in poverty. A report in February this year by Anglicare described older women as the 'invisible homeless'.

The next policy step, if we're serious about equality in this country, must be for superannuation to be paid on paid parental leave as well. The disruptions to women's lives and careers are numerous and lengthy. Apart from emotional and wellbeing impacts, these disruptions, either separately or compounded, can be devastating for a woman's financial, job and housing security. The 2016 census showed that older women were the fastest-growing group to experience homelessness in Australia, and that was an increase of 31 per cent on the 2011 numbers.

All of these disruptions in women's lives matter; all of these disruptions to women's lives entrench disadvantage; and all of these disruptions to women's lives can be ameliorated with policies such as this one. So I commend these amendments and this bill to the House.