Major reforms
Maternity Allowance Act 1912
10 October 1912
The Australian Parliament recognises the costs associated with raising children, creating a law to give financial assistance to new mothers.
From November 1912, Australian women – married or unmarried – were entitled to a £5 benefit on the birth of their child. The allowance aimed to lower the infant mortality rate – the number of deaths of children under one year of age – by giving women the money to pay a medical professional to attend the birth of their child. The allowance was very popular – over 82,000 payments were made in the first year. However, the payment was not granted to First Nations, Asian, Papuan and Pacific Islander women. It was not until 1959 that restrictions on the payment of maternity allowances to First Nations women were removed.
The Australian Parliament had used Section 81 of the Australian Constitution to introduce the old-age and invalid pension in 1908. The maternity allowance, apart from being a measure to reduce poverty, aimed to increase the birth rate, and was the first time the Parliament passed laws related to the area of healthcare.
The maternity allowance was paid to Australian women until the law was repealed in 1978. Other child support payments had been introduced by this time and were considered to have made the payment unnecessary.
Mother with children, circa 1907-1914
State Library of Victoria
Mother with children, circa 1907-1914
State Library of Victoria
Description
This photograph of a mother and children was taken by Harold Leopold Godden – an amateur Australian photographer who lived in Tamleugh, north of Violet Town, Victoria. This photograph was likely taken between 1907-1914. This family may have benefitted from the Maternity Allowance Act 1912 which gave financial assistance to new mothers.