Breastfeeding and Parenting Facilities
Flinders supports all employees who wish to combine breastfeeding (which means breastfeeding an infant or expressing breastmilk) and paid work. This applies to all employees and may include employees returning from parental leave, new employees who may be breastfeeding, employees who may be re-lactating and pre-adoptive employees who may wish to establish a milk supply prior to their child’s placement.
Flinders recognises a mother’s need to ensure that work and breastfeeding can be combined comfortably and practically to promote ongoing benefits to the baby, mother and workplace. We strive to provide an environment which will assist employees to integrate work and life commitments.
The needs of the breastfeeding employee are minimal and short-lived, however we want to support women in their desire to maintain breastfeeding for as long as mother and baby desire. We therefore aim to provide a family-friendly workplace that enables employees to balance breastfeeding and their work responsibilities. As individual needs of the mother, carer and baby will vary, we are committed to offer flexible work arrangements that will meet the needs of the employee as well as operational requirements.
Lactation breaks are to be made available to employees to breastfeed (go to the baby or have the baby brought onto campus) or express breastmilk during work hours. The number of times women need to feed or express milk will be determined by the individual needs and age of the baby. The younger the baby, the more frequently a mother is likely to need to do so. An employee working a standard 7.35 hour day is entitled to one or more daily breaks of up to one hour per day (or on a pro rata basis).
Decisions made regarding requests for lactation breaks and flexible work options must be fair, transparent and capable of review. A written agreement between the employee and employer may be effective in this regard, and employees should notify their manager if their breastfeeding needs change or cease, so that any agreement can be amended as required.
If, due to operational needs, there is a need to delay the taking of a lactation break, efforts should be made to ensure that the employee is able to take the break as soon as possible, in order to minimise any risks to the employee’s health or milk supply or the child’s health.
Employees wishing to combine work and breastfeeding should negotiate their conditions as soon as practicable, with their supervisor – ideally this should be done prior to returning to work to minimise the impact this may have on the workplace. Supervisors should provide reasonable flexibility for lactation breaks, and employees should take both the organisational and personal needs into account, with a focus on minimising disruption in the workplace, when negotiating the timing of lactation breaks.
Support from colleagues is crucial to providing a supporting workplace environment for breastfeeding employees. All employees have a responsibility to treat colleagues who are breastfeeding with respect and dignity.
Women are welcome to breastfeed their babies wherever they feel comfortable.
Breastfeeding employees returning to work can seek flexible work options as per the Fair Work Act 2009. All flexible working arrangements are subject to operational requirements.
All facilities can be used by staff and students.
Rooms have fridges, or fridges located in staff common rooms throughout the campus are available for staff to store clearly labelled breastmilk in their closest staff kitchen facilities.
- The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) has more information on expressing and storing breastmilk.
For further assistance with breastfeeding and returning to work or study you can also contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA). Trained Breastfeeding Counsellors are available to provide breastfeeding information and support and ABA Services include a free 24/7 Breastfeeding Helpline, LiveChat, breast pump hire mum2mum app, antenatal education and many more resources
Additional Resources/information:
Flinders Parental and Caring support guide and Family and Caring webpage provides information on a range of resources, policies and procedures available to help support staff to balance their parental and caregiving, and work responsibilities.
The following checklist has been developed to assist managers in supporting breastfeeding employees by identifying the key areas of discussion and consideration in reaching an arrangement that suits the needs of the employee and the operational needs of the workplace.
Organisational Development and Diversity, or your local People and Culture team are also available if you have further queries or require additional support.
Legislation
Under the Federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984, breastfeeding is a protected ground of discrimination. It is against the law to discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee on the basis of sex, breastfeeding status, pregnancy or carer’s responsibility.
State or territory |
Legislation |
Responsible minister or administering authority |
Australian Capital Territory |
Justice and Community Safety Directorate |
|
New South Wales |
Attorney General, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence |
|
Northern Territory |
Department of the Attorney-General and Justice |
|
Queensland |
Department of Justice and Attorney-General |
|
South Australia |
Attorney-General |
|
Tasmania |
Department of Justice |
|
Victoria |
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission |
|
Western Australia |
Attorney General Minister for Public Sector Management |
Commonwealth
The following legislation applies to all Australian workplaces:
- Sex Discrimination Act 1984
- Fair Work Act 2009
- Work Health and Safety Act 2011
- Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012
International
Australia is a signatory to the following International conventions:
Flinders is accredited by the Australian Breastfeeding Association as a Best Practice Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace.
Training and Career Support
We understand that carer responsibilities, whether parental or otherwise, can sometimes reduce capacity to attend conferences and seminars, networking events and after hours activities. It is recognised that sometimes this in turn has the potential to impact on the ability to form collaborations and build networks and that time available to conduct research, write and publish manuscripts may also be reduced.
In recognition of this Flinders offer a range of supports to reduce barriers and achieve equality of opportunity.
Information for Supervisors
In addition to supporting our staff, Flinders is committed with equipping our supervisors with the relevant information and knowledge.
External Resources
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
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