The Parenthood

The Parenthood 📣 Advocating for Aussie families
💪🏼 Campaigning for parental leave, better child care & flexible work
⚖️ Want stronger support
📩 Join us for change

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21/08/2026

Are dads quietly expected to choose work over their kids? Jason stayed home to care for his children… and people wanted an explanation.

For Jason and Portia, shared care made sense.

Portia spent the first six months at home with each child. Then Jason became the stay-at-home parent, taking on the feeds, high chairs, first steps, mothers’ group and relentless everyday work of raising two small children.

But not everyone understood.

Years later, with their children now teenagers, Jason describes that time as invaluable. He would have done it forever.

Dads should not need to defend wanting to care. And families should not have to choose between income and giving both parents meaningful time with their children.

A full year of paid parental leave, designed to make shared care genuinely affordable, would give more families that choice, and help make involved fatherhood normal from the beginning.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for:

✔ One year of paid parental leave
✔ High-quality, affordable and accessible early childhood education and care
✔ Family-friendly workplaces

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

Should more dads be comfortable with caring?

Turns out, people really want flexible work. When Perth-based commercial building and maintenance company Indigo Commerc...
19/08/2026

Turns out, people really want flexible work. When Perth-based commercial building and maintenance company Indigo Commercial redesigned its shifts around real life, thousands of people applied.

For working parents, the problem is clear: school hours and working hours simply don’t match.

Perth building company Indigo Commercial Indigo Commercial tried something different.

Instead of one rigid roster, workers can choose six-hour shifts, with options including early starts, later finishes and a 9-to-3 window that makes school pickup possible.

That workplace flexibility opened construction roles to people who can be locked out by conventional hours, including single parents, retirees and people with disability.

And the response was significant: Indigo Commercial reports receiving 2,700 applications within weeks, climbing to more than 7,000 applications for 10 roles in under two months.

It’s a useful reminder that family-friendly work doesn’t always require parents to become better at juggling.

Sometimes employers need to reconsider the structure creating the juggle in the first place.

👉 COMMENT: ‘PARENTPOWER’ to join us & campaign for flexible work

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for:

✔ One year of paid parental leave
✔ High-quality, affordable and accessible early childhood education and care
✔ Family-friendly workplaces

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

👉 COMMENT: ‘PARENTPOWER’ to join us & campaign for flexible work

20 years ago, mum-to-be Fay Calderone opened a notebook. Inside, she wrote the calculations that might make her maternit...
14/08/2026

20 years ago, mum-to-be Fay Calderone opened a notebook.

Inside, she wrote the calculations that might make her maternity leave possible: income, mortgage repayments, advance payments and the baby bonus. Each number part of a plan to buy a few more months at home.

Five months after her son was born, Fay returned to work.

She was sleep deprived, caring for a restless five-month-old and commuting three hours each day from Western Sydney to the CBD.

At the time, flexible work was barely considered, leaving new mothers with very little room to recover, care for a baby and stay connected to their careers.

Her diary holds the choices and compromises so many working parents make. It also shows why paid parental leave matters.

One year of paid parental leave would give families more time, more choice and less financial pressure.

Fay’s words offer a quiet reminder: change is possible and it is worth fighting for.

Sign our petition calling for one year of paid parental leave via the link in our bio.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for:

✔ One year of paid parental leave
✔ High-quality affordable early childhood education and care
✔ Family-friendly work

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

👉 SIGN our petition for one year paid parental leave: https://www.theparenthood.org.au/first_year_foundations

12/08/2026

How can I afford this? Can I even do this? So many parents know those questions.

Pregnancy can bring joy, fear, doubt and the full spectrum of human emotions. That’s why, whether it’s your first child or your third, every parent needs to know they’re not alone.

Here are some of the highlights we’ve achieved together, with your help:

✦ Paid parental leave increased to 26 weeks
✦ Super now paid on government-funded parental leave
✦ Four weeks of paid parental leave reserved for dads and partners
✦ The Child Care Subsidy Activity Test replaced with a guarantee of at least three days of subsidised care each week
✦ A landmark pay rise for early educators, helping services attract and retain staff
✦ National childcare safety reforms to better protect children

Every single win was built by parents who said: this still isn’t good enough.

The next goal is a full year of paid parental leave: 52 weeks at replacement wage, shared between parents, bringing Australia closer to the support available in many comparable countries.

A goal that big needs a movement to match, and it starts with telling people about The Parenthood.

We need you. Tag a pregnant friend below, send them this post or comment ‘PARENTPOWER’ to join us.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent. We’re fighting for one year of paid parental leave, quality, affordable early education and care, and family-friendly work.

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

Who’s the first person you’d tell? 👇

The Census counts Australia. But it doesn’t count everything your family is carrying… and the government can’t fix what ...
11/08/2026

The Census counts Australia. But it doesn’t count everything your family is carrying… and the government can’t fix what it doesn’t measure. Here are 5 questions we want answers to:

1️⃣ How much of your household income goes towards raising your children?
2️⃣ Has unavailable or unaffordable early education and care stopped you working?
3️⃣ Is there a default parent in your family?
4️⃣ Does family-friendly work genuinely give you the flexibility?
5️⃣ Has the cost of parenthood changed your decision to have another child?

These aren’t small personal issues.

These questions explore whether combining work and care in Australia is affordable, sustainable and shared.

And that matters for us all: when parents are supported, Australia gains workers, skills, productivity, prosperity and stronger health and learning outcomes for the next generation.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for:

✔ One year of paid parental leave
✔ High-quality affordable early childhood education and care
✔ Family-friendly work

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

How would you answer these questions?

11/08/2026

Dads are looking for connection.

Our Campaign Director, Seb, joined Zach Perez on a Father’s Pram Walk, where 50 fathers travelled from across Melbourne to spend time together. Their turnout says something important about what many dads need: community.

For many men, especially those at home full-time with young children, early fatherhood can feel strangely lonely… and maybe that’s not surprising.

For generations, dads simply weren’t expected (or given much opportunity) to be the ones at home doing the day-to-day caring.

In the early 1990s, Australian dads with babies spent only around eight hours a week doing direct childcare as their main activity. Even decades later, dads averaged 2 hours 19 minutes a day on childcare, compared with 3 hours 34 minutes per day for mums*

You don’t undo generations of that overnight. Dads haven’t always had the time, spaces or networks to find each other and build community around caring.

But that is changing.

Dads need other dads. Especially in those intense early years when babies change quickly, the challenges keep shifting.

That is one of the less obvious things paid parental leave can provide.

Longer leave gives dads time to become confident carers, build friendships, participate in their communities and create support networks around their families.

That can make combining work and care more sustainable long after parental leave ends.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for:

✔ One year of paid parental leave
✔ Quality affordable early education and care and
✔ Family-friendly work

When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

What would more paid parental leave make possible for dads you know?

*Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1992 Time Use Survey and 2020–21 Time Use Survey.

10/08/2026

It’s Early Learning Matters Week, so let’s say the quiet part out loud.
We still talk about early learning like it’s a holding pattern before “real” school starts. It’s not. Ninety percent of brain development happens before a child ever sits at a school desk. That’s not daycare. That’s the education.
Here’s the bit that doesn’t get said enough: high quality early learning does two jobs at once. It’s where kids learn. And it’s how families stay afloat, because when it’s affordable, a parent can actually go back to work. When it’s not, someone drops out. It’s almost always mum.
The recipe for getting this right isn’t complicated. Safety, non-negotiable. Real play-based learning, not childminding. And educators who are paid enough to stick around, because kids need familiar faces, not constant turnover.
Right now the system meant to stop families falling into poverty is costing families half a paycheck or more. That’s not support. That’s failure, by design.
Every kid deserves a place. Not just the ones whose parents can pay the most or live in the right postcode.
This week is about thanking educators. It’s also a reminder that early learning is nation-building work. Time we funded it like it.
Join The Parenthood, link in comments 👇🧡

Imagine one free date night a month. New York has decided parents deserve exactly that.For many Australian parents, a ni...
07/08/2026

Imagine one free date night a month. New York has decided parents deserve exactly that.

For many Australian parents, a night out requires weeks of planning, an available grandparent, an expensive babysitter or simply accepting that it will not happen.

New York City has launched a free Parents’ Night Out childcare program for families with children aged 6 to 13. Children receive dinner and take part in supervised sports, games, arts and nature activities while their parents get four uninterrupted hours.

The first 500 places filled within hours. Parents did not need convincing.

Australian parents are expected to manage work, care, school schedules and household responsibilities every day with no margin for error.

Addressing time poverty means creating practical family support that gives parents genuine room to recover and reconnect.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We’re fighting for one year of paid parental leave, quality affordable early education and care and family-friendly work. When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

👉Join us today - link in bio

How does a monthly free date night sound to you?

02/08/2026

Supporting parents isn’t just about “time off work”. It's about designing work around real life, including one of the biggest transitions most adults will ever face.

Most employers get this wrong. That's what makes Dissh’s approach so innovative.

Welcome to 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆: where we explore smart ways to combine work and parenting.

Australian fashion retailer DISSH has structured support around the transition to parenting.

🌱 Phase 1: Starting Stronger
Before a baby arrives, employees can access leave for IVF, fertility treatment, pregnancy-related illness, adoption and surrogacy, plus coaching for parenthood.

🌱 Phase 2: Recovering Together
During parental leave, employees receive 16 weeks at full pay, access to the government scheme and continued super for a year.

Returning to work isn't treated as the finish line.

🌱 Phase 3: Retaining Skilled Talent
Financial support, flexibility and coaching recognise that returning to work is another major transition for employee and employer.

Support continues after parental leave.

🌱 Phase 4: Sustainable Success
Parents receive two weeks of paid leave each year until their child turns twelve, recognising that school pickups, sick days, appointments and caring responsibilities continue after returning to work.

DISSH shows that supporting young families isn’t simply about “time off”.

It means designing work around real life, improving outcomes for parents and strengthening retention for employers. DISSH says this contributed to a 140% increase in job applications.

We are The Parenthood: a national, not-for-profit advocacy group working to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent.

We're fighting for one year of paid parental leave, quality, affordable early childhood education and care and family-friendly work. When parents are properly supported, children can thrive and communities are stronger.

Would your workplace do something like this?

Everything you need to know about how we can expand paid parental leave to 12 months 👇The Labor Party has made it their ...
01/08/2026

Everything you need to know about how we can expand paid parental leave to 12 months 👇

The Labor Party has made it their formal policy position. That's the goal, not yet the guarantee, and every parent saying HELL YES gets us there faster.

But 12 months is only half the story. The design is everything:

→ Replacement wage rate, not minimum wage

→ Shared between parents

→ A portion reserved for each parent

→ Full 52 weeks for single parents

Ambitious? Yes. Because children and families are worth it.

Tag someone who needs this.

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375 Wickham Tce
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