Mr KELVIN THOMSON —I wish to raise a concern on behalf of Karen Laino of Landells Road, Pascoe Vale, who is employed as an ASO officer with the Australian Government Solicitor. She works in the legal administrative support area and was due to return from maternity leave on 13 May this year. She wrote advising that she wished to return on a part-time basis. She was told by Ms Lee Merwood that she would not be able to return on a part-time basis and that her only options were to return to work full-time or to take additional leave.

She has lodged a regulation 83 grievance—not surprisingly—because the Australian Government Solicitor has an explicit obligation under the permanent part-time work agreement to make permanent part-time work available to staff returning from parental leave. I find it extraordinary that the Australian Government Solicitor and this government should not be allowing her to return to part-time work, given that the Attorney-General's publication has said:

We recognise that benefits to all parties will flow if our permanent part-time work positions are applied to a wider cross-section of our staff, subject to operational needs. . . . to allow better balancing of work and family commitments, whilst enabling them to pursue their careers.

It is extraordinary that the government can give us this rhetoric about the value of permanent part-time work, yet not allow people in practice, like Karen Laino, to find part-time work when that is precisely what she wants.