National sporting governing body Netball Australia has amended its parental leave policy in order to better support its employees and their families.
Netball Australia increased paid parental leave for primary carers from eight to 18 weeks, while paid parental leave for secondary carers was increased from two to six weeks. It also increased paid surrogacy leave from four to eight weeks and introduced five days of fertility leave per year for employees who need it.
The governing body also introduced provisions for child and support person travel for primary carers. An employee who is the primary carer for a child aged younger than 24 months, and who is required to travel for work purposes domestically or internationally, will have the travel costs for a child and a carer covered.
Netball Australia stated that netball is the leading sport for women and girls in the country, which is reflected in its workforce, with 76% of staff identifying as female.
Kelly Ryan, chief executive officer of Netball Australia, said: “We want to ensure we are fully supporting our return-to-work parents and their families. Netball has a leading parental leave policy for Suncorp Super Netball and Diamonds athletes, and we are delighted it now extends to our staff.
“Our parental leave benefits have been enhanced to increase paid primary and secondary parental leave, while making progressive changes towards levelling the gender pay gap. This policy entitles staff to the same provisions as professional athletes, including supporting employees who are primary carers of young children and required to travel.”
Netball Australia follows in the footsteps of restaurant and grocery chain Itsu, which last month introduced an adoption leave policy and shared parental leave, matching its maternity leave at six months. It also brought in 10 paid days off per year for those undergoing fertility treatment, which is available to staff after six months of employment.