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9 out of 10 Australian parents report discrimination due to pregnancy and parenting
According to a University of South Australia 2024 survey of 1,048 parents who work, 89% of those parents reported facing discrimination during pregnancy, 85% reported discrimination while on parental leave, and 92% reported discrimination when they returned to work.
A new report from the Australian Human Rights Commission provides insight into what pregnant and parenting women are facing at work.
A report from the Australian Human Rights Commission highlights personal stories from women who feel they were discriminated against at work due to pregnancy.
Women faced issues such as job elimination or a reduction in scheduled shifts after they had babies.
A 2024 survey found that 92% of parents reported discrimination when they returned to work after having babies.
The Australian Human Rights Commission's report includes case studies of women who said they were unfairly treated by their employers during or after pregnancy.
“Frequently, when a woman does tell that she is pregnant… she will experience either performance management, or suddenly – if she’s in insecure work, and we know that migrant women and women targeted by racism are more likely to be an insecure and shift work – then the shifts will dry up,” said Ann Cody, sex discrimination commissioner.
“The third thing that happens is redundancies [the elimination of a role] – and they are ‘sham redundancies’. They’re not… because the job is no longer required or has been eliminated within the workplace, it’s because they no longer want that woman working in the job because she’s pregnant and is going to leave.”
The number of such complaints to the Human Rights Commission increased from 52 in 2023 to 71 in 2025, but not everyone files a complaint. Complaints filed with the Fair Work Commission are higher, according to Cody, but they don't always include reports of discrimination.
Cody said:
“If you make the loss of a job look like a redundancy, the employer is the one who has all the evidence to show whether or not the job has actually disappeared, and yet it’s the complainant, it’s the woman, who has the responsibility, that burden, of bringing a complaint.
We know that when women are having their child, or are pregnant, that’s a really vulnerable time. And so then to put on top of that, ‘Now it’s your responsibility to make a complaint to either the Fair Work Commission or to the Australian Human Rights Commission’, sometimes that’s just too much.”
The Guardian shared specific stories from the report, including that of Luisa, an HR manager in the healthcare industry whose job was eliminated one month after telling her employer that she was pregnant. She had told her employer that after the baby was born, she planned to return to work and her husband would be the one to take parental leave.
“Her employer questioned who would support Luisa after the baby was born, because her family lived overseas,” the report said.
Another mother, Michelle, said that after she asked to work longer shifts instead of multiple short ones so that she could care for her children and her sick father, her employer stopped giving her shifts altogether and then dismissed her from the role.
Another woman, Emily, said that despite the existence of a specified breastfeeding area at work, she was discouraged from taking breaks to pump.
Instead, she was "expected to work uninterrupted, long hours and was unable to take her lactation breaks," according to the report. "Despite the available space and policies, the culture and attitudes in her workplace made Emily feel unsupported and led her to stop breastfeeding her child earlier than she wanted to.”
Cody is calling for a followup survey to be carried out to check for changes in reports of discrimination.
The chief executive of the independent, not-for-profit parent and child advocacy group Parenthood, Georgie Dent, told the National Press Club in September that another survey was critical.
“It must be reinstated,” she said. “We can’t fix what we’ve stopped counting.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
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·9 out of 10 Australian parents report discrimination due to pregnancy and parenting
According to a University of South Australia 2024 survey of 1,048 parents who work, 89% of those parents reported facing discrimination during pregnancy, 85% reported discrimination while on parental leave, and 92% reported discrimination when they returned to work.
A new report from the Australian Human Rights Commission provides insight into what pregnant and parenting women are facing at work.
A report from the Australian Human Rights Commission highlights personal stories from women who feel they were discriminated against at work due to pregnancy.
Women faced issues such as job elimination or a reduction in scheduled shifts after they had babies.
A 2024 survey found that 92% of parents reported discrimination when they returned to work after having babies.
The Australian Human Rights Commission's report includes case studies of women who said they were unfairly treated by their employers during or after pregnancy.
“Frequently, when a woman does tell that she is pregnant… she will experience either performance management, or suddenly – if she’s in insecure work, and we know that migrant women and women targeted by racism are more likely to be an insecure and shift work – then the shifts will dry up,” said Ann Cody, sex discrimination commissioner.
“The third thing that happens is redundancies [the elimination of a role] – and they are ‘sham redundancies’. They’re not… because the job is no longer required or has been eliminated within the workplace, it’s because they no longer want that woman working in the job because she’s pregnant and is going to leave.”
The number of such complaints to the Human Rights Commission increased from 52 in 2023 to 71 in 2025, but not everyone files a complaint. Complaints filed with the Fair Work Commission are higher, according to Cody, but they don't always include reports of discrimination.
Cody said:
“If you make the loss of a job look like a redundancy, the employer is the one who has all the evidence to show whether or not the job has actually disappeared, and yet it’s the complainant, it’s the woman, who has the responsibility, that burden, of bringing a complaint.
We know that when women are having their child, or are pregnant, that’s a really vulnerable time. And so then to put on top of that, ‘Now it’s your responsibility to make a complaint to either the Fair Work Commission or to the Australian Human Rights Commission’, sometimes that’s just too much.”
The Guardian shared specific stories from the report, including that of Luisa, an HR manager in the healthcare industry whose job was eliminated one month after telling her employer that she was pregnant. She had told her employer that after the baby was born, she planned to return to work and her husband would be the one to take parental leave.
“Her employer questioned who would support Luisa after the baby was born, because her family lived overseas,” the report said.
Another mother, Michelle, said that after she asked to work longer shifts instead of multiple short ones so that she could care for her children and her sick father, her employer stopped giving her shifts altogether and then dismissed her from the role.
Another woman, Emily, said that despite the existence of a specified breastfeeding area at work, she was discouraged from taking breaks to pump.
Instead, she was "expected to work uninterrupted, long hours and was unable to take her lactation breaks," according to the report. "Despite the available space and policies, the culture and attitudes in her workplace made Emily feel unsupported and led her to stop breastfeeding her child earlier than she wanted to.”
Cody is calling for a followup survey to be carried out to check for changes in reports of discrimination.
The chief executive of the independent, not-for-profit parent and child advocacy group Parenthood, Georgie Dent, told the National Press Club in September that another survey was critical.
“It must be reinstated,” she said. “We can’t fix what we’ve stopped counting.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Nancy Flanders
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·Issues
Bridget Sielicki
·Issues
Nancy Flanders
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Issues
Cassy Cooke
·Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·Human Interest
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·Pop Culture
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·