Telstra have firmly placed themselves at the forefront of parental leave equality with the organisation’s new gender-equal policy that was announced in July.

The new policy from the telecommunications industry leader has removed the distinction between primary and secondary carers and now offers all eligible parents who has been with Telstra a year or more 16 weeks of paid parental leave.

This leave can be taken within the first 12 months after their child’s birth or placement. Secondary carers at the company previously received two weeks of paid leave.

With modern working families struggling to integrate their work and home life, these sorts of policy adjustments are a welcome change and a powerful step in the right direction to advancing parental leave and gender equality across Australia.

Yvette Sraga, Head of Programs – Principal at Telstra, champions the new policy. She and her partner Liz have shared the primary carer role for their three children previously.

“I’m very proud of Telstra for challenging the gender stereotypes relating to a primary carer,” says Yvette. “This is a great step towards ensuring equal opportunity in the workplace and acknowledges the crucial role that both parents play in early childhood development.”

If you’d like to be apart of the parental leave equality movement, visit the Advancing Parental Leave Equality Network (APLEN) page. APLEN is a network of organisations established as part of a commitment to lead UN global gender equality efforts to advocate and advance parental leave equality in Australia.

Read more on Telstra’s new policy here.

Have your say about how workplaces can be more gender-equal and family-friendly by completing the new National Working Families Survey 2019 here.

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