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Work Conditions & Discrimination of Australian Pregnant and Parent Workers: a National Review. Pregnant and parent workers represent a substantial and growing proportion of the workforce. Research shows that this group of workers have experienced high levels of workplace discrimination, which can cause devastating effects to individuals, organisations, and society.

However, there is a pressing need for up-to-date evidence on the work conditions for this group, and as such, this paper presents the findings from a significant national study of pregnant and parent workers (N =1048) from across Australia during 2023. Overall, 89.0% of respondents reported experiencing work-related discrimination, disadvantage and/or bias during pregnancy, 84.7% during parental leave and 92.8 % during return-to-work.

Descriptive analysis revealed high prevalence rates of various forms of discrimination, disadvantage and bias faced by pregnant and parent workers, pertaining to aspects such as—but not limited to—accessing leave entitlements, breastfeeding facilities, and career progression. Without greater preventative or intervening action from various stakeholder groups (e.g. employers, human resource personnel), pregnancy and parental work-related discrimination will remain pervasive, socially tolerated, and ‘normal’.