Detailed Discussion

Opportunities for parenting artists and arts workers, and their ability to participate fully in their practice, are often reduced by the financial, time, and caregiving pressures associated with parenting. These impacts can be particularly significant for parents of young or dependent children. Additional caring responsibilities later in life, including caring for adult children or grandchildren, should also be recognised.

The intersectional experiences of parenting artists and arts workers are also important to consider, including the experiences of d/Deaf and Disabled parents, parents who are also carers (see Access Rights for d/Deaf and Disabled People), First Nations parents (see First Nations), gender-diverse parents (see Gender Equity), and racialised parents (see Racial Equity and Representation).

Key issues

Money

Many artists and arts workers work as self-employed or sole trader practitioners and are therefore responsible for managing their own leave, childcare, insurance, income continuity and working conditions outside of traditional employee benefit structures. Organisations, commissioners and funding bodies can better support parenting artists and arts workers by recognising parenting-related costs and access needs within project planning, contracts and budgets.

Some parenting artists and arts workers may be eligible for government-funded Parental Leave Pay if they meet the relevant work test requirements, although eligibility pathways can be difficult to navigate for artists and arts workers working across freelance and non-traditional employment models. 

In recognition of these barriers, many funding bodies (including Creative Australia and state arts agencies) now recognise childcare expenses as legitimate project costs within funding applications.

See Allowances.

Time

Parenting artists and arts workers often navigate complex caregiving, financial, and domestic responsibilities that shape how, when and where they engage with their practice. Opportunities requiring spontaneous availability, overtime, travel or inflexible scheduling may therefore be less accessible at different stages of parenthood. Organisations and collaborators should avoid assumptions about reliability, ambition or professional commitment based on caregiving responsibilities.

Flexible timelines, accessible commissioning models, supportive residency structures, and long-term engagement opportunities can help parenting artists and arts workers sustain continuity within their practices and careers. While some artists and arts workers continue practising throughout parenthood, others may choose (or need) to pause their practice for periods of time. Creating pathways for re-engagement and recognising career interruptions can help address the professional and financial setbacks that often accompany caregiving-related pauses, including broader gender inequities within the arts sector, and contribute to the gender pay gap.

In collaborations with parenting First Nations artists and arts workers,  the role of arts practice  as important cultural labour should be discussed, including how artistic work functions as intergenerational knowledge sharing, cultural continuation and community care.

The First Nations advisory group for this chapter recommended that, following consultation with artists and arts workers, evaluation frameworks for First Nations-specific projects could include consideration of the project’s impact on the artist’s children, family and community. It should be recognised that the colonial structure of parenthood is not the same as many First Nations structures, which not only include parenting responsibility for birthed children, but also other children within the family or community. The group also recommended that organisations consider providing exclusive First Nations events and activities for children and parents to support cultural learning and intergenerational exchange.

For further information, see First Nations.

The legal right for parents to request flexible working arrangements was introduced nationally in the Fair Work Act 2009 and strengthened in 2023 through reforms that improved employees’ ability to challenge unreasonable refusals.

Under current Australian workplace law, people who are pregnant, who are parents or carers of children of school age or younger, or who are carers within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010 are legally entitled to request flexible working arrangements. These principles should also be recognised by organisations that contract, commission or otherwise work with artists and arts workers, many of whom work as sole traders or self-employed practitioners.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is currently updating its Supporting Working Parents resource toolkit to reflect current legislation and best-practice guidance.

Organisations have a responsibility to ensure the rights, protections and dignity of parenting artists and arts workers of all gender identities under workplace, anti-discrimination and human rights frameworks, including the standards set by Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and guidance provided by the Australian Human Rights Commission. The labour of parenting exists across all genders (including male, female, non-binary, and transgender parents) and family structures. Experiences of parenting artists and arts workers are intersectional; factors such as different cultural contexts, access needs, and additional caring responsibilities may shape the kinds of support they require at work. This includes differing cultural responsibilities to children and community.

The parenting and caregiving responsibilities of artists and arts workers are access and inclusion considerations; associated needs should be discussed on an individual basis. Childcare should be recognised as a legitimate and necessary expense within project budgets. 

Organisations should foster environments that are open and welcoming to the children of parenting artists and arts workers, including ensuring appropriate insurance, policies or contractual arrangements are in place so artists and arts workers can use their own judgement about bringing children into work contexts (including meetings, residencies, exhibitions and public programs) while maintaining clear responsibilities around duty of care.

Child safety obligations must be in place in the workplace, following the recommendations for working with children and young people outlined in Creative Workplaces resources.

Organisations should negotiate project timelines collaboratively with parenting artists and arts workers, allowing flexibility for timelines and schedules to align with their caregiving responsibilities and working capacities.

Artists and arts workers have a responsibility to clearly communicate their access requirements as parents in the early stages of a project, including project timelines that align with their caregiving responsibilities, preferred meeting times and any childcare costs associated with their participation in a project.

Artists and arts workers should ensure appropriate supervision and duty of care for children brought into professional environments and consider the safety, wellbeing, and comfort of children within workplaces, galleries, residencies and public programs.

Conversations around childcare responsibilities need to take place when artists, arts workers and organisations work together on a project and decisions should be documented.

Childcare costs should be considered within budget planning, as well as travel costs for children and, where necessary, a support person, additional parent or carer. Parenting artists and arts workers’ individual access needs and agreed accommodations should be documented.

Timelines, meetings and event arrangements (including openings) should take into consideration the caregiving responsibilities of artists, arts workers and audiences.

Agreements should provide flexible residency arrangements, including deferrals, adjusted access periods or negotiated parental leave arrangements where appropriate.

Responsibilities relating to children in work contexts must be clearly communicated, including duty of care obligations.