Almost 92 per cent of Australian women are exposed to discrimination after returning from maternity leave, according to a 2024 University of South Australia study.

The first comprehensive national review since 2014 has revealed that workplace discrimination against pregnant employees is rife despite being outlawed in Australia 30 years ago.

Sarah Turner-Harris’s* story is a stark reflection of these findings.

After six years as a communication specialist in a retail company, Turner-Harris returned from maternity leave after having her second child and was immediately excluded from her usual roles without explanation.

“Coming back to work, I started to picking up on strange vibes and behaviour towards me,” Turner-Harris said.

“Projects that would normally be a big part of my job were being taken away from me,’’ she said.

As time passed, the situation worsened.

“My manager just didn’t really want to deal with me about this,” Turner-Harris said.

“I would start the work and then next thing I know my manager would email me saying ‘Thanks, I’ll take it from here’.”

A turning point came on the day of her yearly appraisal.

Her manager told her there would be a fire drill at 11am and suggested rescheduling the appraisal and advised her to visit a cafe to avoid the drill.

But Turner-Harris decided to stay, believing the drill was an important safety exercise.

By 11, there was no fire drill.

Suspicious, she asked her colleagues about it.

“They said ‘what are you talking about, there’s no fire drill’,” she said.

Turner-Harris was devastated, realising her manager had lied to her.

“I was fighting back all the tears,” she said.

Her distressed peaked when her three-year-old son brought her a tissue after witnessing her crying.

“That was when things switched from really upset and hurt to anger …[my employer had] really done damage and the frustration is that they will never know that that’s what they’ve done.”

The stress eventually forced her to see a doctor who diagnosed her with a severe anxiety disorder.

A study led by Dr Jaclyn Borrowman found that pregnancy discrimination increases the odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms by eight per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

“It’s a really difficult time with a lot of changes,” Dr Borrowman said.

“It’s easy to feel like it’s your fault but don’t be afraid to ask for help and reach out to others.”

Turner-Harris eventually made a complaint against the company to the Fair Work Commission.

She also presented her concerns to her manager.

Less than 24 hours later, the company terminated her employment, citing redundancy.

Turner-Harris was crushed.

“I just wanted a working environment safe from discrimination,” she said.

“There was no accountability.”

She questioned the legitimacy of the redundancy, noting that two people were now doing her job.

“It’s much easier for you to make me redundant than provide me with the flexibility I am entitled to as a working parent,” she said.

After being sacked, Turner-Harris received 12 weeks of pay.

“It was an absolute dog’s breakfast,” she said.

Being a single mother made the situation even challenging.

“[You’ve] got to hold it together for your kids … but a lot of the time, I would just be so upset, I could barely move,” she said.

“My… children who had never done anything wrong were impacted by these selfish [people].

“It is abominable.”

Turner-Harris questioned the effectiveness of pregnancy discrimination policies.

“These policies are probably not worth the paper they’re written on,” she said.

“It doesn’t deter the outcomes of these companies from doing it again.”

Turner-Harris’s case was followed up by the Fair Work Commission, and she eventually received a small compensation payment.

However, she says it wasn’t enough to make up for the stress and financial impact.

“Are we not allowed to have babies anymore?”

“Women still face a choice between a career and a family.

“I thought we’d move beyond that but we just haven’t, certainly not in Australia anyway,” she said.

Turner-Harris urges women facing similar situations to advocate for themselves.

“I know it’s hard but fight it,” she said.

“Submit a formal grievance; go to Fair Work, like I did.

“The more companies are held to account, surely then something’s going to change.”

Latest National Review reveals rampant workplace discrimination against pregnant employees

The situation has worsened since the last review in 2014 found one in two mothers in Australia faced pregnancy discrimination during pregnancy or upon returning to work after parental leave.

The lead author of the new report, UniSA Research Fellow at the Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory Dr Rachael Potter, described the number of people in distress due to pregnancy discrimination as “alarming”.

The review found that 91.8 per cent of respondents encountered discrimination during their return-to-work phase, 84.7 per cent during parental leave and 89 per cent throughout their entire pregnancy.

Having a good experience with her own pregnancy four years ago, Dr Potter was stunned to hear harrowing stories like Turner-Harris’s.

“I’ve had people reach out to me on LinkedIn, sharing their stories — how distressing it is to have experienced discrimination, and even years later, are dealing with the anger about how they were treated,” Dr Potter said.

“It’s a really devastating experience. It has a huge psychological impact. To feel like that is so disempowering.”

Dr Potter said over 60 per cent of mothers returning to work face a distressing reality: their opinions are disregarded; they feel isolated and are burdened with excessive work demands.

Despite legal requirements, nearly a third of expectant mothers remain uninformed about their maternity leave rights.

(Image: Prisha Mercy. Data source: Potter et al. 2024)

“It’s a multifaceted national culture issue,” Dr Potter said.

“We need to see this is not the norm and no one should be disadvantaged for having a family.

“People should be able to go back to work … they should be supported and encouraged to keep progressing in their career.”

Potter warned that keeping women in part-time roles without advancement opportunities would only widen the gender pay gap.

“I don’t think we really want that moving forward,” she said.

Number of pregnancy/parental discrimination complaints by year. (Table: Prisha Mercy. Data source: JobWatch 2024)

Another study by Monash Business School found that pregnant women encountered significant discrimination, jeopardising their job stability and career advancement.

The study was based on data from helpline calls to an employment rights community legal centre JobWatch.

Monash University’s Associate Law Professor Dominique Allen says the research demonstrates a troubling glimpse into pregnancy discrimination in the workplace for women.

“If a woman is discriminated against at work when she’s pregnant, they often don’t want to do anything about it,’’ Allen said.

“Even if they want to do something about it, they’re disinclined to do it because it’s difficult to prove.’’

Allen also highlights that many women feel lost and unaware of their options after experiencing discrimination.

“I think that is a problem … there’ll be a lot of other people that aren’t aware of services like [JobWatch],” she said.

“There’s that information gap there,” she said.

A mother’s fight against pregnancy discrimination and disability

Leah McKenzie* is a 35-year-old mother of six and has been working since she was 14.

“Despite having children, I’ve always been working,” she said.

However, her recent experience with pregnancy discrimination at a well-known Australian retail chain highlights the ongoing challenges pregnant employees still face.

Currently on unpaid maternity leave, McKenzie juggles multiple jobs and contracts in different industries as a casual worker.

Diagnosed with fibromyalgia two years ago, her struggle involved both pregnancy and disability discrimination.

“My body is in constant pain,” she said.

When her high-risk pregnancy made returning to work unsafe, her employer put her on unpaid leave and reduced her hours to strictly contractual shifts.

Unfortunately, she was not given any contract hours.

The company refused to acknowledge her medical grounds for leave, threatening to fire her and jeopardising her eligibility for parental benefits.

“They screwed me over,” McKenzie said.

“They really made it hell for me to be pregnant.”

The ordeal took a toll on her mental health, leaving her feeling defeated and isolated, without any support from her coworkers.

“I’ve been with the company for six years,” she said.

“You know how everyone says it takes a village to raise [a child], right?

“It felt like I’d lost my village.”

The situation took a heavy financial toll on her family.

“It put a lot of strain on the family because, while I don’t earn that much, what I was earning was contributing to the household greatly,” she said.

Financially strained and emotionally drained, McKenzie got the union involved and considered legal action but ultimately chose to prioritise her health and her child’s wellbeing.

Despite the hardships, McKenzie drew strength from being a mother.

“I’m a role model to the next generation,” she said. “I can’t look defeated.”

“I’ve still got these little mini-mes looking up to me, so despite what I feel, it doesn’t matter.”

Australia’s move towards gender equality in superannuation

In a positive step forward starting July 1, 2025, the Australian government will provide a 12 per cent superannuation contribution in addition to the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave for eligible recipients.

The initiative aims to mitigate the effect of parental leave on retirement savings as women currently retire with 25 per cent less superannuation than men.

Superannuation fund HESTA CEO Debby Blakey backs the policy.

“Paying super on paid parental leave will help…narrowing the gender super gap and make Australia’s super system fairer,” Blakey said in a media statement.

What actions can pregnant employees facing discrimination take?

Across Australia, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 bars discrimination in employment based on pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Complaints must be lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) within 24 months of an incident.

If accepted, the AHRC facilitates conciliation to resolve disputes.

If unresolved, further legal action may be pursued within 60 days in federal courts.

In Queensland, complaints can be filed within 12 months under the Anti-Discrimination Act with the Queensland Human Rights Commission, potentially escalating to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

Similarly, Tasmania allows complaints within 12 months under the Anti-Discrimination Act with the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner.

The Executive Producer of JobWatch, Zana Bytheway said: “There needs to be greater awareness by women of their rights and by employers of their obligations.”

Bytheway believes the laws should be reviewed to extend the time limit for discrimination claims.

“This is important in cases where women have taken on less financially lucrative work to ‘get out the door,’ and where other vulnerabilities are evident — for instance, experiences of family violence where independent financial stability through secure employment can help to support leaving that situation,” Bytheway said.

She noted that lodging a complaint within six months might be challenging, particularly if mental health is impacted, there are fears of retaliation, or there is lack of awareness about legal rights.

“Combined with the lack of time associated with the general life upheaval of pregnancy … it would make sense for time limits to be extended to 24 months to allow women time to make a discrimination claim given their extenuating life circumstances,” Bytheway said.

She said extending the time limit for discrimination claims would benefit those who waited until after leaving their job to pursue legal action.

Catalysing change for pregnant women at work

UniSA’s Dr Rachael Potter underscores the need for urgent organisational reform.

“Within workplaces, there needs to be open communication around mutual expectations that can benefit both the person experiencing pregnancy and also the organisation,” Dr Potter said.

“These people are having the next generation of people in our societies.

“It is an extremely important role and it’s important to support them in whatever ways we can.”

Despite existing laws, Dr Potter said the prevalence of pregnancy discrimination remains deeply troubling.

“We need to do more research into what’s going on, and why people are getting away with it,” she said.

“No woman should ever be forced to choose between her career and her family.”

Dr Potter calls for a profound change in societal perspectives towards mothers.

“It’s time for a cultural shift — one where motherhood is celebrated and protected, not mourned,” she said.

Dr Jaclyn Borrowman echoes this sentiment.

“We need to work together to make sure the system does not fail mothers anymore,” she said.

“Embracing a workplace culture that nurtures and supports mothers is not just a choice but a societal obligation to truly honour the essence of motherhood.”

*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.