The Federal Government has released details some have been waiting to see since before the election – the Paid Parental Leave Scheme spruiked heavily by Tony Abbott and the Coalition.

The scheme should make sure all working women are awarded 26 weeks of maternal leave at full pay from 2015.

The payouts will be capped at $75,000 regardless of the actual wage or contractual agreements.

The partners of new mothers will receive two weeks (of the 26) leave at the partner’s income level.

Superannuation is to be paid either at employer rate, or a base rate at 9.25 per cent of income. This will be payable to the primary carer during leave.

The scheme is to be financed by 1.5 per cent levy on company incomes. Companies will pay into the scheme if they have an after tax turnover above $5 million per annum, the scheme is to be offset by changes to company tax rates.

The Paid Parental Leave scheme will be administered by the Department of Human Services through Centrelink, rather than by employers.

How the scheme is actually going to work is still up for debate, as it contains a number of clear departures from previous models for maternity leave.

“As I understand it, the government wants to use what is called the social welfare powers of the constitution to displace existing paid parental leave entitlements,” says University of Sydney academic Marian Baird, after a briefing on the scheme by federal officials.

“This is an unexpected development because the power, to my knowledge, has not been used in industrial arrangements before.”

Chair of the National Foundation for Australian Women Social Policy Committee Marie Coleman is approaching the announcement with trepidation too, saying there are important points to work out before it can work effectively.

Ms Coleman discusses the constitutional implications of the new scheme in an article posted here.