Coalition considers extending paid parental leave to 12 months as families push for more childcare options

Paid parental leave could be extended to 12 months as part of a broader suite of childcare reforms the federal opposition is considering to give Australian families more flexibility.

The Coalition is exploring a range of policy changes including tax breaks for families and reforms to subsidy rules allowing payments to grandparents who help care for children.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Coalition considers 12-month paid parental leave expansion

It comes as more parents return to work and seek alternatives to childcare centres.

In Sydney, one emerging model is trying to meet that demand.

The co-working space is designed for parents, with mothers and fathers working at desks while their babies are cared for just next door.

BubbaDesk founder Lauren Perrett created the concept after becoming a mother and struggling with the idea of leaving her baby in traditional daycare.

“When I had my first baby, Charles, and the thought of returning to work, I didn’t want to use traditional daycare because I didn’t like the idea of being a physical distance away from him,” she told 7NEWS.

“It just didn’t feel right instinctually, or my maternal instinct, just wanted to remain close.

“I wanted to continue breastfeeding. And there was no solution that offered that workspace with childcare next door. So I created it myself.”

‘The future of childcare’

The model allows parents to work nearby while remaining connected to their children throughout the day.

Perrett says the idea reflects how modern families now work.

“Forty per cent of the workforce works hybridly and there has been no childcare solution that has worked for the modern family until now,” she said.

She believes the approach could represent a shift in how childcare is delivered.

“This is definitely the future of childcare. I think all parents want flexibility and they want to make their own choice about what childcare option works for them.”

Demand has surged since the company launched in November 2022.

“We’ve had about 2500 members, but we have a wait list of about 13,000, and that’s across the whole of Australia,” Perrett said.

For Sydney mother Tia Gargoulakis, the arrangement has helped her balance work and parenting.

She helps manage several dental practices across NSW and works from the co-working space while her daughter Sia is cared for next door.

“We’re expected to parent as if we don’t have a full-time job and work as if we don’t have children,” she said.

“This gives me an opportunity to parent the way I want to parent and be close to my child but also still maintain my employment.”

The model is privately funded and not currently supported through government childcare subsidies, but it has caught the attention of the federal opposition.

Shadow Minister for Childcare Choice Matt O’Sullivan says the current system does not work for every family.

“The one-size-fits-all system that the Albanese government have been pursuing with earnest is not suitable for all families,.” O’Sullivan told 7NEWS.

“We want to see greater flexibility and choice when it comes to childcare.”

He said the Coalition is considering allowing funding to go directly to families so they can choose the care arrangement that works best.

“We think there needs to be greater flexibility so that parents can actually choose what model will work for them and that could include parents being able to source their own informal care,” he said.

‘We’re the backup people’

That could include support for grandparents who already provide childcare for many Australian families.

Ann and Edmond O’Donovan help care for their 12 grandchildren whenever their children need help.

“We know what that’s like. We’ve had our own family so just getting some of those breaks for parents ... (is) very important,” Ann said.

“It could be anything. It could be picking the children up from school, going to have a play in the playground or dropping them home after school.

“We’re the back-up people.”

While they help out voluntarily, Edmund believes government support should be available for families who rely on informal care.

“I do think it should be an option that the parents have access to,” he said.

The biggest policy under consideration by the Coalition is expanding paid parental leave.

“It’s currently six months, you could extend that out to 12 months or so to provide that support, particularly in that very acute period of a child’s life,” O’Sullivan said.

He said the opposition is examining a wide range of childcare options.

“We’re not putting any roadblocks in front of any particular model and nor am I saying exactly what we’re going to do here today because we’re going through the process of actually working out the best way to provide that support and flexibility to families,” he said.

Advocates have long called for longer paid parental leave to give parents more choice during their child’s earliest years.

Extending the scheme would come with a significant cost to the federal budget, but the Coalition says it sees childcare policy as an investment in families.

“It’s an investment of taxpayers’ money into families and making sure that families have got the best system that suits them,” O’Sullivan said.