Professor Marian Baird AO is an international leader in research on industrial relations, women, work and care across the life course. She is Australia’s leading scholar on parental leave, working with governments, unions and employers for several decades on supporting women at this critical stage of their reproductive lives. In March 2023 Marian was appointed as a member of the Fair Work Commission Expert Panel and will sit on the Annual Wage Review Panel. Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill is a leading researcher on the future of women, work and care in Australia and the Asian region and has a strong history of research leadership in this field. She is founder and co-convenor of the Australian Work and Family Policy Roundtable and Deputy Director of the Gender Equality in Working Life (GEWL) Research Initiative at the University of Sydney. Elizabeth has extensive research experience on women’s working lives, including as Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Women’s Working Futures Project. Sydney Colussi is an early career scholar in the fields of socio-legal and policy studies at the forefront of research in the area of gender, work and reproductive health. She is co-convenor of The Body@Work Project and member of the Women, Work and Policy Research Group and Work + Family Policy Roundtable. Sydney is a regular commentator on public and workplace policies for reproductive wellbeing.

• Preface by Marian Baird, Elizabeth Hill and Sydney ColussiChapter 1: The Australian policy context: Opportunities for a new social and gender contract by Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 2. Reproductive policies: An expanding approach to work and care by Sydney Colussi, Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 3. Parental leave policy: Time to grow by Marian Baird and Gillian WhitehouseChapter 4. Early childhood education and care: Policy renewal for strong foundations by Elizabeth Hill, Elizabeth Adamson and Deborah BrennanChapter 5. Flexible work policy: Building “good flex” across the life course by Rae Cooper, Frances Flanagan and Meraiah FoleyChapter 6. Informal care policy: Needs of older people and people with disability or chronic illness by Myra Hamilton, Sara Charlesworth and Fiona MacdonaldChapter 7. Tax and welfare policy: Removing embedded gender inequalities in work and care by Miranda StewartContributorsIndex

“This is an excellent and much needed book on the subject of work, care and family policies in Australia.”– Russell D. Lansbury, Labour and Industry 2024, 1–3

Professor Marian Baird AO is an international leader in research on industrial relations, women, work and care across the life course. She is Australia’s leading scholar on parental leave, working with governments, unions and employers for several decades on supporting women at this critical stage of their reproductive lives. In March 2023 Marian was appointed as a member of the Fair Work Commission Expert Panel and will sit on the Annual Wage Review Panel. Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill is a leading researcher on the future of women, work and care in Australia and the Asian region and has a strong history of research leadership in this field. She is founder and co-convenor of the Australian Work and Family Policy Roundtable and Deputy Director of the Gender Equality in Working Life (GEWL) Research Initiative at the University of Sydney. Elizabeth has extensive research experience on women’s working lives, including as Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Women’s Working Futures Project. Sydney Colussi is an early career scholar in the fields of socio-legal and policy studies at the forefront of research in the area of gender, work and reproductive health. She is co-convenor of The Body@Work Project and member of the Women, Work and Policy Research Group and Work + Family Policy Roundtable. Sydney is a regular commentator on public and workplace policies for reproductive wellbeing.

• Preface by Marian Baird, Elizabeth Hill and Sydney ColussiChapter 1: The Australian policy context: Opportunities for a new social and gender contract by Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 2. Reproductive policies: An expanding approach to work and care by Sydney Colussi, Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 3. Parental leave policy: Time to grow by Marian Baird and Gillian WhitehouseChapter 4. Early childhood education and care: Policy renewal for strong foundations by Elizabeth Hill, Elizabeth Adamson and Deborah BrennanChapter 5. Flexible work policy: Building “good flex” across the life course by Rae Cooper, Frances Flanagan and Meraiah FoleyChapter 6. Informal care policy: Needs of older people and people with disability or chronic illness by Myra Hamilton, Sara Charlesworth and Fiona MacdonaldChapter 7. Tax and welfare policy: Removing embedded gender inequalities in work and care by Miranda StewartContributorsIndex

“This is an excellent and much needed book on the subject of work, care and family policies in Australia.”– Russell D. Lansbury, Labour and Industry 2024, 1–3

Professor Marian Baird AO is an international leader in research on industrial relations, women, work and care across the life course. She is Australia’s leading scholar on parental leave, working with governments, unions and employers for several decades on supporting women at this critical stage of their reproductive lives. In March 2023 Marian was appointed as a member of the Fair Work Commission Expert Panel and will sit on the Annual Wage Review Panel. Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill is a leading researcher on the future of women, work and care in Australia and the Asian region and has a strong history of research leadership in this field. She is founder and co-convenor of the Australian Work and Family Policy Roundtable and Deputy Director of the Gender Equality in Working Life (GEWL) Research Initiative at the University of Sydney. Elizabeth has extensive research experience on women’s working lives, including as Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Women’s Working Futures Project. Sydney Colussi is an early career scholar in the fields of socio-legal and policy studies at the forefront of research in the area of gender, work and reproductive health. She is co-convenor of The Body@Work Project and member of the Women, Work and Policy Research Group and Work + Family Policy Roundtable. Sydney is a regular commentator on public and workplace policies for reproductive wellbeing.

• Preface by Marian Baird, Elizabeth Hill and Sydney ColussiChapter 1: The Australian policy context: Opportunities for a new social and gender contract by Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 2. Reproductive policies: An expanding approach to work and care by Sydney Colussi, Elizabeth Hill and Marian BairdChapter 3. Parental leave policy: Time to grow by Marian Baird and Gillian WhitehouseChapter 4. Early childhood education and care: Policy renewal for strong foundations by Elizabeth Hill, Elizabeth Adamson and Deborah BrennanChapter 5. Flexible work policy: Building “good flex” across the life course by Rae Cooper, Frances Flanagan and Meraiah FoleyChapter 6. Informal care policy: Needs of older people and people with disability or chronic illness by Myra Hamilton, Sara Charlesworth and Fiona MacdonaldChapter 7. Tax and welfare policy: Removing embedded gender inequalities in work and care by Miranda StewartContributorsIndex

“This is an excellent and much needed book on the subject of work, care and family policies in Australia.”– Russell D. Lansbury, Labour and Industry 2024, 1–3