Maternity Leave in Australia Maternity leave allows women to take leave from work to give birth to and care for their children. The International Labor Organization sets minimum standards for maternity leave. These include the right to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave and a ban on dismissal during maternity leave. Although a member of the ILO, Australia has never ratified its Maternity Protection Convention ---- there are no standard maternity leave provisions. Australian law entitles women to 12 months of unpaid leave and for more than 25 years the Commonwealth Employees Act has entitled Commonwealth employees to paid maternity leave. Around two-thirds of women in the workforce, however, are not entitled to paid maternity leave, and many working women are not entitled to unpaid leave because they are casual workers. Is it time to change maternity leave rights in Australia? Australia has one of the least generous maternity leave provisions of industrialized countries. Australia and...