Sharran Burrow is the national president of the ACTU

Australian women have been waiting a long, long time for universal Paid Parental Leave. Proposals released by the Productivity Commission last week give some hope we will finally have a scheme ready to go by next May's federal budget.

Currently, more than 50% of Australian women get no paid maternity leave and those who do are mainly in high income, full time public sector jobs with access to good parental leave provisions. The Commission's model offers 18 weeks at the federal minimum wage ($543.78 per week) paid by the federal government, with 9% superannuation paid by employers. If women already have paid maternity leave from their employer, they will be required to use this before accessing the government scheme.

There are some who say 18 weeks is not good enough, but after 30 years of debate, it's a great first step to build on. When the push for paid parental leave started, there was outright opposition from employer groups, who said the sky would fall in if women had any paid time off after the birth of a baby. It hasn't. Even earlier, employers (and others) predicted that companies wouldn't employ women when unpaid parental leave was introduced in 1979. This didn't happen either. In fact Australia's economic expansion in the last 15 years was fuelled by record numbers of women entering the workforce. With a skills and labour shortage and higher education levels among women, the trend will continue. Even retailers large and small, who were once so fiercely opposed to paid maternity leave, realise it has helped women to return to work, saving thousands of dollars in re-hiring and re-training costs.

Under the Productivity Commission recommendations, unions and the ACTU think employers are getting off lightly and should be asked to 'top up' the federal government's minimum wage payment, in order to fully replace the woman's normal salary. Employers have reaped a huge windfall from the number of women now in the workforce, which has created a larger economy and tax base and greater consumer spending power. In this context, a top up is a small contribution. Considering only a minority of women earn above the minimum wage, it will not break the bank and is actually a sensible investment in retaining skilled staff.

Unions also want to see a guarantee that existing parental leave entitlements are preserved. With any new, government-backed scheme, women should not lose any of their previously hard won gains when trying to balance work with care of a baby. Flexibility is also a concern. Many employers have arrangements where women can take their leave at half pay over a longer period of time and this should also be allowed under proposed government scheme. Women should be able to access some of the 18 week scheme before the birth of their child and should not be forced to start their leave within six months of the birth of the baby. Children and families require flexibility and that should be at the heart of the scheme.

The ACTU also believes 'stay at home' mothers should also receive a payment, in recognition that most are in paid work at the time of the birth of their first child and the majority will be again when children are older. Unions will also campaign to have the 18 week scheme, (and any other improvements gained in the next round of submissions to the Productivity Commission), guaranteed in a new National Employment Standard.

It was encouraging to hear Kevin Rudd's comments about 'biting the bullet' on parental leave and Australian women will be expecting a safe delivery in the 2009 budget, if not sooner.