TRANSCRIPT:
Five days into grappling with the death of her six-week-old daughter Priya, her grieving mother notified her employer of 11 years.
She received condolences and gifts from colleagues, but her pain was compounded when her workplace cancelled her three months of pre-approved paid parental leave.
Now, laws have been introduced to prevent employers from immediately scrapping these entitlements when families face the tragedy of a stillbirth or death of their baby.
Priya's mother cannot be identified for legal reasons.
SBS has voiced some of her comments made a press conference just after the bill was introduced into federal parliament.
"My heart aches with sadness because more than anything, I wish my daughter Priya was here with me. At the same time, I feel such immense pride and joy, knowing that she's creating meaningful change for future working parents in Australia."
The bill was introduced because in some circumstances some employers immediately cancelled parental leave after the death of a baby and ask parents to take annual leave instead.
In other cases, an employee who did not have annual leave could be told to come back to work straight away.
Workplace Minister Amanda Rishworth says parents shouldn't have to deal with the uncertainty of whether they will receive paid parental leave while also enduring the grief of child loss.
"If you think about the time of a stillbirth or a early infant loss, it is absolutely tragic. It is something that I can't even imagine and to have to deal with not only navigating the grief and loss, but also navigating demands to come back to work early, not have the financial security that comes with recovering from childbirth, but also grieving and loss through having that guaranteed paid parental leave is just unimaginable."
Priya's parents, who advocated for the laws, met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ms Rishworth after the bill was introduced.
"There is no greater way to honour my little girl than to have her name forever tied to this law - a legacy that will touch countless lives."
Priya's mother also thanked the more than 32,000 ((32,378)) people who had signed baby Priya's petition calling for the bill to be introduced.
There was a thank you too from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
"It's a legacy of course for Priya as well that will last for other families who are going through your tragic circumstances, which must be just so difficult. During the (election) campaign we committed to this in part because of your advocacy, understanding that parents in this situation who've lost a little one need to be looked after."
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows six babies are stillborn every day and two die within 28 days of birth in Australia.
Ms Rishworth says the laws will also give clarity to employers about paid parental leave policies, and benefit workplaces by retaining and attracting staff.
"What this bill is really doing is making it very explicit about what the expectations are. And this is not just good for parents, but it gives absolute clarity to employers. Someone in the HR department doesn't have to wrestle about whether or not they should cancel leave and make people take other leave. This makes it explicit that you are able to keep taking your entitlement of paid parental leave until it's exhausted. And so that really does give certainty to everyone irrespective of whether the baby was stillborn, passed away or indeed of course lived."
The legislation does not override the freedom of employers and employees to agree on their own paid parental leave policies, allowing bargaining above the safety net provided by the law.
