Outcomes of a National Review: Work Conditions and Equity for Australian Parents

The focus of this article is to present some of the leading evidence from a National Review into work-related discrimination, disadvantage, and bias for 1048 pregnant and parent workers around Australia. Despite being a gender-inclusive study, almost 95% of the respondents identified as female. Shockingly, the analysis revealed that 91.8% of respondents experienced discrimination during their return-to-work phase, 84.7% during parental leave and 89% during pregnancy at work. Respondents reported comments such as “I was told I wouldn't want to return to work as I would be ‘clucky’ and my career was severely impacted by my pregnancy, and I was forced to give up my team leader role.”

Pregnant and parent workers represent a substantial and growing proportion of the Australian workforce. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that the number of children in Australia has increased over the last fifty years, with this number estimated to grow to 6.4 million by the year 2048. Despite the high prevalence of Australian workers who have children, there is limited nationwide research exploring their work conditions.