Paid Maternity Leave: Shaping the Future.

Over the middle months of 2002, Australians participated in a lively public discussion of the possibility of legislated paid materniry leave. This followed Goward's (2002a) options paper on paid maternity leave, released in April 2002. Response moved rapidly from whether Australia should have a scheme, to what type of scheme we should have. Goward travelled the country addressing groups, and the issues received almost daily media attention. Alchough some public discussion has indicated there is concern that business, particularly small businesses, could not afford the costs of paid maternity leave, Goward's paper stated clearly that making businesses directly liable for costs was not an option. Other issues raised include funding arrangements, the appropriate length of paid leave, eligibility of women not in paid employment at the time of a birth, and whether paid maternity leave would have any impact on Australia's low birth rate, or on breast cancer rates