Maternity leave in Australia

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Maternity leave in AustraliaMaternity leave allows women to take leave of absence from their job to give birth and care for their children. The International Labor Organisation sets minimum standards for maternity leave. These include a right to 12 weeks' paid maternity leave and prohibition against dismissal during maternity leave. Although a member of the ILO, Australia has never ratified its convention concerning maternity protection ---- we have no standard maternity leave provisions. Australian law entitles women to 12 months' unpaid leave and for more than 25 years the Commonwealth Employees Act has entitled Commonwealth employees to paid maternity leave. About two-thirds of women in the workforce, however, are not entitled to paid maternity leave and many
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working women are ineligible for unpaid leave because they are casual employees.Is it time to change maternity leave entitlements in Australia?Australia has one of the least generous maternity leave provisions of industrialised nations. Australia and the US are the only two members of the ILO that do not have a system of paid maternity leave for workers. Of industrialised nations, it is the Scandinavian countries that set the pace. In Norway, for example, women are entitled to a year's maternity leave on full pay, two years' unpaid leave and the right to part-time employment while their children are young. Supporters ...

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