Balancing Act: Supporting Working Parents and Carers
New report finds pregnancy and caring-related discrimination remains a major barrier to workplace participation and gender equality.
Summary
The Balancing Act report:
- finds discrimination related to pregnancy and caring responsibilities remains a major barrier to gender equality in Australian workplaces.
- draws on evidence from workers, employers, unions and other experts, as well as a comprehensive review of existing research.
- highlights how discrimination can be compounded for people from marginalised backgrounds, who already face additional barriers at work.
- identifies 18 areas for reform to strengthen protections and better support shared care.
Overview
Most of us will be a parent, carer or both at some point in our lives. No one should have to choose between earning a living and caring for the people who depend on them.
Balancing Act examines the discrimination parents and carers continue to face in Australian workplaces. It builds on the Australian Human Rights Commission’s landmark 2014 National Review, which found nearly 1 in 2 (49%) mothers reported experiencing discrimination during pregnancy, parental leave or on return to work.
Despite legal protections, Balancing Act finds a significant gap remains between workers’ rights and their everyday experiences. Discrimination can occur when workers disclose a pregnancy, take parental leave, breastfeed or express milk, request flexible work, return from parental leave or manage caring responsibilities.
This report highlights the need for stronger protections, more flexible and inclusive workplaces, better access to justice and greater recognition of modern Australia’s families and caring needs.
Read the report, Balancing Act: Supporting Working Parents and Carers.
Everyone has the right to supported at work as they care for their family, and no worker should be forced to choose between earning a living and caring for the people they love.
Methadology
Between 27 March and 15 April 2026, the Commission held 5 roundtables involving 71 stakeholders and 13 one-on-one meanings.
Participants included workers with lived experience, representatives from community, advocacy and non-profit organisations, the community legal sector, unions, academia and industry.
One roundtable brought together stakeholders from different sectors. Four focused on the experiences of:
- people with disability
- culturally and racially marginalised communities
- First Peoples
- LGBTIQA+ communities.
This report also draws on a literature review and an evidence gap analysis of academic, legal and policy sources.
Key findings
The report found:
- Discrimination remains a significant workplace issue. Workers can lose shifts, contracts, training and promotion opportunities, experience redundancy or reduced hours, or be forced to leave their jobs because of pregnancy or caring responsibilities.
- Many workers do not report discrimination. Fear of retaliation, financial loss, career damage and the stress of formal complaints can prevent people from speaking up.
- Discrimination is not experienced equally. Gender, racism, disability, insecure work and visa dependence can create additional barriers for some workers.
- Workplaces do not always reflect the reality of modern care. Narrow definitions of family can exclude kinship care, chosen family and other caring relationships.
- Gendered expectations about care remain deeply embedded. Women continue to carry a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities, while fathers and non-birthing parents face barriers to sharing care.
- Breastfeeding discrimination remains a barrier to work. Workers reported inadequate facilities, insufficient breaks, stigma and discrimination.
- Better national data and access to justice is needed. There is a need for nationally representative data to understand the prevalence and impacts of pregnancy, breastfeeding and family responsibilities discrimination.
What needs to change
The report identifies 18 areas for reform raised by stakeholders. These include:
- Strengthen legal protections through reforms to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) and Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), to prohibit indirect discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities and strengthen protections against redundancies connected with parental leave.
- Reforming paid parental leave by expanding Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave to up to 52 weeks at wage replacement rather than minimum wage, increasing the proportion of leave reserved for each parent, and extending entitlements to foster, kinship and grandparent carers.
- Making workplaces more flexible and inclusive by strengthening the right to request flexible working arrangements under the Fair Work Act, removing the 12-month service requirement for unpaid parental leave, ensuring fitness to work assessments are not misused to discriminate against pregnant workers, and providing greater flexibility in hours, shifts and rostering - including for casual and insecure workers.
- Improving access to justice and information through increased support for the Commission, legal aid, community legal centres and specialist advocacy services, as well as accessible information about workplace rights.
- Building the national evidence base by funding nationally representative research into pregnancy, breastfeeding and family responsibilities discrimination and barriers to shared care.