The Pregnancy Penalty: Why Australia needs stronger protections against pregnancy discrimination at work

October 28, 2026
Read time ( 3 min)

Pregnancy and parental leave discrimination remain significant barriers to women and non-binary people’s economic security and equality in Australian workplaces.

Pregnancy and parental leave discrimination remain significant barriers to women and non-binary people’s economic security and equality in Australian workplaces. Despite longstanding legal protections, too many women continue to experience unfair treatment, changes to their employment conditions, redundancy and dismissal during pregnancy, while taking parental leave or when returning to work.

ABC Four Corners investigated these experiences in The Pregnancy Penalty, exposing the personal, professional and financial consequences of pregnancy and parental leave discrimination. More than 100 women shared their experiences with the program, revealing patterns of dismissal, demotion, unfair performance management and potentially sham redundancies.

Working Women’s Centre Victoria (WWCVic) contributed insights to the documentary, drawing on our experience supporting women and non-binary people experiencing pregnancy discrimination and other workplace issues. The investigation highlights an issue that Working Women’s Centres across Australia have long identified as a priority for reform.

Pregnancy discrimination is not always obvious

Pregnancy discrimination can take many forms. While some workers experience explicit discrimination or dismissal, others face more subtle treatment, including being overlooked for promotion, having their responsibilities reduced, being subjected to unfair performance management or finding their position has been made redundant while they are on parental leave.

Speaking to Four Corners, Susan Price, Assistant Principal Solicitor at Working Women’s Centre NSW, described how employers’ attitudes towards workers can change after they disclose a pregnancy:

“You do see what I describe as a real shift in attitude towards a worker once they’ve come into the workplace and announced they’re pregnant.”

Susan explained that conduct or performance previously accepted by an employer can suddenly become the subject of criticism and performance management. Our frontline experience show pregnancy discrimination intersects with dismissal, redundancy, changes to employment conditions and parental and carer responsibilities.

The consequences can be significant. Losing employment during pregnancy or after having a child can undermine financial security, disrupt career progression and make it difficult to secure alternative employment.

The burden should not fall on parents to enforce their rights

Australia has laws prohibiting pregnancy and parental leave discrimination. However, the experiences highlighted by Four Corners raise important questions about whether those protections are sufficient in practice.

Too often, workers must identify unlawful conduct, challenge their employer’s decisions, seek legal advice and pursue complaints after discrimination has already occurred. Many face significant barriers, including financial pressures, fear of retaliation, limited access to legal assistance and the complexity of navigating employment and discrimination laws.

The Four Corners investigation revealed that nearly half of Sex Discrimination Act complaints resolved by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2025–26 took more than a year to finalise due to the number of claims.

Stronger protections must focus on preventing discrimination and protecting employment security, rather than relying primarily on individuals to seek remedies after losing their jobs.

This includes examining stronger safeguards around redundancy and dismissal during pregnancy and parental leave, greater employer accountability and more accessible complaint and enforcement mechanisms.

A priority for Working Women’s Centre Victoria

The Four Corners investigation reinforces the need for a system that does more than compensate workers after harm has occurred. Employers must be accountable for preventing discrimination, and workers need meaningful protections that allow them to remain securely employed throughout pregnancy, parental leave and their return to work.

WWCVic will continue to advocate for stronger protections against pregnancy discrimination, particularly where workers experience redundancy, dismissal or changes to their roles.

Pregnancy and parental leave should never come at the cost of a person’s job, career or financial security.

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Working Women’s Centre Victoria