Shared leave for same-sex parents in ACT

Same-sex couples in the ACT will soon both be able to take time off work for parenting responsibilities under new laws introduced to the territory’s Assembly.

The ACT Government has moved to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in parenting leave as part of a package of industrial relations reforms.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Same Sex: Same Entitlements report had identified the current discrimination in the ACT where, unlike other couples, only one partner in a same-sex relationship can take parental leave to care for the couple’s children.

The Parental Leave Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 is an important part of the Stanhope Labor Government’s commitment to provide same-sex couples and their children with the same rights as other families, ACT Minister for Industrial Relations Andrew Barr said.

This legislation, if passed by the Assembly, will provide same-sex couples with the same access to parental leave as other families, providing them with equal opportunities to look after their children.

Barr, who is in a same-sex relationship, first promised the reform at a public demonstration organised by the Campaign for Civil Unions in March.

Just last month the NSW Parliament passed similar laws in its same-sex parenting reform package but agreed to an amendment by Christian Democrat upper house member Fred Nile that the term partner leave be changed to paternity and partner leave.