Baz

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what the situation is with maternity in Oz, or Qld? My wife and me are thinking about having kids next year, but without any significant maternity leave, we are just not sure how we are going to afford it, as we can't afford to drop a salary with the current cost of living and mortgage repayments. We were hoping Rudd would bring in fully paid maternity leave for around six months, but i do not think that has happened from looking at the new budget. I do not want my wife to have to return back to work three months after having given birth, and have to put a fairly newly born baby into day care.

Does anyone know what the situation is if you work for a private company, or a government agency? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

tillysmum

Maternity Leave

Sorry its still rubbish, stay there have baby then come if you still want to.
I am sure someone will be along to disagree with me soon!
Good Luck

Sorry just seen you are in OZ already.

ridds

The situation re maternity leave does vary depending on your employer - mine for example offers staff with 12 months continuous service up to 12 weeks paid leave and 40 weeks unpaid leave (subject to other eligibility requirements). This is a semi-public sector organisation. For Qld government workers - If you have worked for 12 months or more continuously (qualifying service period) in any one or more Queensland Government departments or Queensland public service offices and the expected date of birth of your child has been confirmed in writing by a medical practitioner, you are entitled to access 12 weeks paid maternity / adoption leave or 24 week’s maternity leave on half pay. You may also be entitled to a further period of unpaid maternity/adoption leave up to 52 weeks in total or, on application, an extension up to 104 weeks in total.

Private sector organisations are generally not as generous (although there are some exceptions). The best thing is to check with your employer, and factor in a possible change of employer (to one with better conditions) as part of your family planning

hereshoping

Don't forget the 'baby bonus' you get fromthe government when the baby is born- a one off payment.

I believe the leave can be split between the parents, so you can each take 6 months or one parent can take 1 year, or anything in between.

Ryem78

We're planning on starting a family after settling in Sydney, and unpaid maternity along with Sydney's cost of living scares the daylight out of me! Do you know how much the baby bonus is?

Mikeyc

I think it's $5,000 now (it goes up at the start of every tax year usually)

But they are thinking of changing it to vouchers for baby things, instead of Cash. lol

Mikey

abertawe

Baby 1 - 0 Sleep

quoll

Work hard and save up so you can afford a child perhaps a bit later?

6 months paid maternity leave

They were talking about a sort of savings scheme though along the lines of super contributions so you can save up for leave later on, not sure what happened with that idea.

MartinLuther

Maybe you need to take the baby bonus and Family Tax Benefit into account. The baby bonus is $5000 tax free. It used to be a one off payment but there's going to be changes to spread it out. With the FTB, unless you're on the maximum payout already, you get more benefit if your family income drops.

nosegold

Hi

I am also very interested in this subject. My hubby and I are moving to Brisbane before the end of the year, both working in a hospital. We plan to start a family and I would like to know if I have to work for 12 months straight to qualify for mat leave or can i work for 6 months, get pregnant, work for a further 6 m months, therefore qualifying for mat leave.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Maple Leaf

about time too!!!

MartinLuther

It'll depend on the policy of the company you work for. There is no compulsory maternety in Aus so not all companies provide it. The government decided to pay all mothers equally through the baby bonus rather than just working mums.

Anastasia Beaverhausen

As someone else said, depends on your employer. I will get 8 weeks full pay or 16 weeks half, then the rest of the year unpaid. I can use my annual leave though, so I will be saving all that up between now and January 09.

There is also no requirement for your employer to give you time off for ante natal appointments (in case you are comparing it to the UK system).

The baby bonus will be paid fortnighhtly over 26 weeks, so thats about $348 per/fn. You may also be entitled to Family Tax Benefit too. Go to the following website https://secure.centrelink.gov.au/Rat...OriginName=FAO to compare your circumstance (between now and when on mat leave for example)

As far as qualifying service goes, my interpretation is from when you start to when you leave is qualifying service, not when you start to when you get pregnant. I was in the UK civil service when I fell pregnant with number 1 and got 6 months on full pay, I had only been there 4 months when I got pregnant and just squeezed into the 1 year qualification rule for mat leave.

Rosscarbery

As others have said there is no statutory maternity leave or pay here so you need to check your employment contracts to see what (if anything) they offer. TBH most people would struggle on SMP (statutory maternity pay) in the UK, it's not much. Wasn't there talk of means testing the baby bonus or am I imagining it?

joh117

I was paid 24wks half pay and I just qualified to work the 1yr service on the day I left to start my maternity leave.

This time I am lucky I am getting UK maternity leave of 9 months paid leave which 6 months is full pay. I start my maternity leave the day I arrive in Brisbane.

Has the baby bonus already gone to fortnightly payments? I qualified with my first child for $3000 as a lump sum and I personally find that more useful than small amounts every few weeks. I understand the logic to put off teenage pregnancies etc but what about the people who are adult and can manage their finances and use the money to the benefit of their babies.

Jo