PRESS RELEASE
New National White Paper Calls for Greater Workplace Support for Australia's
Working Parents
Win Win Parenting highlights the need to make working parents a greater focus of workplace
wellbeing and psychosocial safety strategies
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - 7 October 2026 - Win Win Parenting has released a new national white paper examining the challenges facing working parents in Australia and calling for a more proactive and systematic approach to supporting employees who are balancing work with parenting and caring responsibilities.
The white paper highlights a fundamental mismatch between the reality of Australia's workforce and the way many workplaces continue to operate. Approximately 40 per cent of the Australian workforce are working parents, while nearly three-quarters of couple families have two employed parents.
Yet many workplace structures, expectations and cultures have not kept pace with this changing workforce reality.
Dr Rosina McAlpine, parenting and work-family wellbeing expert and CEO of Win Win Parenting, said organisations have an opportunity to rethink how they support this significant part of their workforce.
“Working parents are not failing at time management. They are navigating competing work and family demands every day, often within workplace systems that were not designed with those responsibilities in mind."
“General wellbeing initiatives and flexible work policies are important, but they are not enough on their own. Working parents also need managers who understand their challenges, workplace cultures where caring responsibilities can be discussed without stigma, and targeted support that reflects the realities of combining work and family life.”
"Working parents are expected to work as if they don’t have a family, while raising a family as if they don’t have a job. That impossible expectation is at the heart of the work-family conflict experienced by so many Australian parents.”
The White Paper
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The white paper identifies a series of practical actions organisations can take, including better identification of psychosocial risks affecting working parents, comprehensive training for People Leaders, meaningful flexibility, reviewing workplace policies and practices through a working-parent lens, and providing dedicated work and family support programs.
It also highlights the importance of workplace culture. Policies and benefits are only effective when employees feel psychologically safe and supported to use them without fear of judgement, stigma or negative consequences for their careers.
The report argues that supporting working parents is not only a wellbeing issue. It has implications for employee engagement, retention, gender equity, workforce participation, organisational performance and Australia's broader economic and social wellbeing.
The central message of the white paper is clear: supporting working parents requires more than helping individuals cope with workplace systems. It requires organisations to consider how those systems can better reflect the realities of today's workforce.
About Win Win Parenting
Win Win Parenting, provides evidence-informed workplace education and support programs designed to help organisations support working parents and carers across the parenting and caring lifecycle. Led by Dr Rosina McAlpine, Win Win Parenting works with organisations to strengthen employee wellbeing, work-family outcomes and family-friendly workplace cultures.
Media enquiries
Win Win Parenting
Dr Rosina McAlpine
[email protected]
+61 407 101 264
www.WinWinParenting.com
