SA MUST DOUBLE PAID MATERNITY LEAVE TO BE COMPETITIVE

28 May 2008

Paid Maternity Leave  - SA Unions Submission

SA Unions has told a Productivity Commission Inquiry in Adelaide that the state must possibly double its paid maternity leave provisions to be nationally competitive.

SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles, says South Australia has a dramatic skills disadvantage, coupled with one of the lowest workforce participation rates for women.

Ms Giles believes that offering support for women to participate in the work will be a major economic boost to the state, far outweighing the investment her idea requires.

At the moment, debate is raging about a uniform 14 weeks paid maternity leave as the minimum standard.  But we have special circumstances in SA - our participation rate for women is the lowest in the nation.  There is a significant gap in gender wages - the worst in the nation.  And women are massively underutilised here compared to elsewhere."

"We strongly support a national PML scheme as essential for ensuring all workplaces understand the advantages of PML, and particularly its value in convincing small and medium businesses to adopt uniform PML, with many of them previously regarding it unnecessary."

"We think 14 weeks should be the minimum.  In SA, where we're competing for skills and have underutilised women, we need to be clever and gear our state to addressing its challenges head on.  Paid Maternity Leave is crucial in the process.

"We're urging the state government to implement a special incentive scheme for SA mothers, of up to an additional 14 weeks called the SA Working Mums incentive, on top of the national minimum."

"We ask them to consider the facts.  We've a looming skills crisis, insufficient labour and a reservoir of untapped potential in women."

"Based on federal government costings we calculate it would cost just $50 million for the state to provide the extra 14 weeks leave for every baby born in SA.  This is less than the tram extension.  Just $3.5 million a week to reap huge benefits in filling skills shortages, reducing unemployment, boosting state productivity - we urge the government to seriously consider it", Ms Giles says.