The Athena SWAN parenting room is available for staff to use while on campus
ECU has a strong commitment to gender equality as an educator and employer. At ECU we support staff as they pursue careers in their chosen field, while understanding that many of our staff have additional responsibilities as parents and carers.
This webpage outlines a range of practical initiatives available to support staff with family responsibilities, as well as providing managers and supervisors with the tools to support parents and carers at work.
For details on parental leave and returning to work, see the guides available in the downloads section.
Staff are able to use personal leave to care for sick children (as well as immediate family or household members).
Sick children (particularly children with known infections diseases) must not be brought into the workplace / teaching area.
Staff who are grandparents may use personal leave to care for sick grandchildren as provided for in the ECU Enterprise Agreement
For more information visit our Personal Leave page
ECU supports employees having access to flexible working arrangements to help you manage your work and life responsibilities.
Requests for flexible work arrangements should be made after discussion with your manager, and are subject to the operational requirements of your work area.
For more information see our flexible work arrangements page
ECU recognises that welcoming a child into your home is a time of transition and provides support to staff through parental leave. A guide to ECU’s parental leave options is available in the download section of this page.
For detailed information concerning your situation and parental leave, contact your Business Partner
Consider contacting your superannuation fund and discussing impact of leave without pay on your superannuation payments and options available. Contact UniSuper for on-campus support or to make an appointment.
Keeping in touch days are occasions when staff on parental leave attend work-related activities. The intention is to support staff obtain necessary knowledge and skills to ensure they have a smooth transition back into the workplace.
Staff and supervisors can organise up to ten occasions during parental leave when the staff member can attend activities such as team planning meetings, conferences, meetings that might affect the staff member’s role, professional development sessions, and IT or process training.
Keeping in touch ‘days’ can in fact be any length of time – from as little as one hour, up to a full day (7.5 hours).
Please note that accessing keeping in touch days is optional, and needs to be mutually agreed upon by both the staff member and supervisor.
For further information on keeping in touch days, contact your Business Partner
Grandcarers are grandparents who have taken on the full-time responsibility of raising their grandchildren. This is due to the child’s parent(s) being unable or unwilling to assume their parental responsibilities. Kinship care refers to placement of children with relatives, those who have a relationship with the child, or family or person from the child's community.
In some situations there will be formal court orders concerning the arrangements. Others will be informal, possibly arising out of a crisis situation. In both circumstances grandcarers and kinship carers have taken on the role of and are recognised as primary carer. This does not include looking after grandchildren or children of other family members on an ad hoc basis.
As primary carers, grandcarers and kinship carers are able to access personal leave should the child in their care become ill and need to stay home from childcare/school. There is also the ability to discuss a suitable flexible working arrangement with their line manager/supervisor to accommodate their childcare responsibilities.
ECU offers staff a range of programs and wellness activities:
Managers and supervisors have a key role in achieving a workplace culture that supports gender equity. This includes supporting staff in the work area as they balance their work responsibilities with parenting and caring responsibilities.
Managers and supervisors also have to perform a balancing act – considering the needs of the organisation with those of employees.
Below are resources for managers and supervisors (more resources are currently being developed).
If you have any questions or concerns, contact your Business Partner