Australia is one of the last developed nations to put in place universal paid maternity leave provisions. The International Labor Organization (ILO), via the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), has made a recommendation for minimum provisions, on which the Australian Government has not yet acted. The reasons for the lack of action with relation to this issue include cost-based arguments, political reasons, and the larger issue of women not being regarded as participants in the labor force whose interests are equal to those of their male counterparts. This paper explores the concept of a paid maternity leave scheme in Australia, and the arguments for and against the adoption of a scheme such as that proposed by HREOC.