On 20 November 2013, the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill was introduced into the Parliament. The Bill includes a proposed amendment to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010. The proposal removes the current mandatory requirement for employers to administer parental leave payments on behalf of the Government. The intent is to relieve the administrative burden on business, especially small business, many of whom regard the ‘paymaster’ role as unnecessarily burdensome and without commensurate benefits. (The average cost identified by all organisations to administer the paid parental leave scheme was estimated at $1,783.) However, employers who wish to continue making such payments can ‘opt in’ to do so, and are not otherwise disadvantaged by this change. Apart from reducing the regulatory burden on business, the main impact of this proposal is an expected increase in the cost to Government of administering the scheme. If implemented, the proposal would start on 1 March 2014. The Department of Social Services (DSS) prepared the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The OBPR notes that as no decision has been previously announced, an options-stage RIS was not required and a single stage RIS has been prepared. The proposal was assessed as likely to have a limited impact on the broader economy with no impacts on competition and has therefore given this a ‘C’ rating (on a scale of A to D) in relation to the level of analysis required. The RIS was assessed as adequate by the OBPR.
- Remove mandatory employer role - Details-stage RIS [
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395 KB] - Remove mandatory employer role - OBPR Assessment Advice – Details-stage RIS [ 148 KB]
- Remove mandatory employer role - OBPR Assessment Advice – Details-stage RIS [ 1.3 MB]
- Remove mandatory employer role - Deputy Secretary Certification Letter [ 808 KB]
- Remove mandatory employer role - Deputy Secretary Certification Letter [ 404 KB]