Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026

Ms MILLER-FROST (Boothby) (13:28): The Albanese Labor government has a focus on families and children, and we understand the enormous challenges that families and children have to navigate. Our government is committed to making this process easier for them. We have, for example, expanded the eligibility for parenting payment (single), raising the cut-off age from eight to 14, which has benefited 200,000 single parents in three years since the measure was introduced.

We have increased the family tax benefit through indexation, which has benefited 1.2 million families with children. From July this year, the government extended paid parental leave to 26 weeks, allowing parents to access up to $30,000 for paid leave. That's six months that parents can spend with their new baby during one of the most important periods of that baby's life; six months to create long-lasting memories, because as difficult and exhausting as this time can be, it is also incredibly rewarding and very fleeting; six months during which parents can plan their financial futures, their future in work and the future for their family.

Debate interrupted.