Jens Poser feels fortunate to be a part-time stay-at-home dad.
He takes one day a week off work to spend with his one-year-old daughter Greta.
His wife Rhiannon Nixon does the same, and on other days, they use child care and help from grandparents.
He says it has helped build a closer bond with his youngest daughter, as well as with his wife.
"It's been fantastic for my relationship with the kids. Seeing them grow up … to nurture that bond with them.
"But also getting them to see that I put as much effort into raising them.
"And now, we sort of look at everything as equal — there is no default for her [Rhiannon] having a bigger parenting role than I have."
Mr Poser's employer, beverage producer Lion Australia, recently introduced a policy of 12 weeks paid parental leave for both men and women (previously the 12 weeks was just available to women).
It's now one of thousands of employers across the country offering generous leave policies for fathers.
Three-in-five employers now offer paid parental leave.
Of these, 91 per cent of organisations providing primary carers leave make no distinction between women or men taking that leave, with 9 per cent of organisations providing primary carers leave to women only.
Paid primary carer's leave is more common in big businesses than smaller firms, with only just over half of companies employing less than 250 staff offering paid leave entitlements on top of the federal government's 18 weeks of payments at the minimum wage (currently $772.55 per week).
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency's report, which covers data from about 5,000 reports from employers, covering more than 4 million employees, shows a widespread increase in the adoption of paid parental leave schemes.
These schemes, which were offered by less than half the businesses surveyed in 2013-14, are now provided by 60 per cent of employers.
The biggest increase occurred among medium-sized employers (500-999 staff) where there was a 21-percentage point jump, with more than two-thirds of these businesses now providing paid primary carer's leave.
More than 3 million employees have access to paid parental leave
WGEA director Mary Wooldridge says there is still an element of stigma attached to men taking time off work to raise kids, but that a societal shift is happening.
"Over 3 million employees have access to paid parental leave in our latest reporting data," Ms Wooldridge says.
"This is of course in addition to what employees are able to access through the government-funded scheme."
She says aside from the personal satisfaction of parents bonding with their kids, taking time off work to raise children also leads to lower mortality rates and increased economic participation of women.
The WGEA found the average length of paid primary carer's leave is 10.8 weeks, with just over a third of employers who provide this leave offering between seven and 12 weeks, about a quarter each offering either one to six or 13-17 weeks, while only 6 per cent offered 18-plus weeks.
The industries with the lowest rate of paid parental leave offerings include retail, accommodation and administrative services, where there's a highly casualised workforce.
But even male-dominated industries like mining have reported a 25 per cent increase in paid parental leave policies over the eight years since the data started being reported.
Few fathers take up primary paid parental leave, but there's a way to change it
The WGEA pointed out that there is still a substantial gap between the proportion of men and women utilising primary carer's leave.
Although more than half the organisations studied offered it to either men or women, mothers accounted for 88 per cent of the leave taken and fathers just 12 per cent.
For non-managers, the proportion of primary carer leave taken by men fell to just 10 per cent, but was 20 per cent for managers.
"This is important because it models the behaviour, it sets a precedent," Ms Wooldridge says.
Half of all employers surveyed also offered paid parental leave for secondary carers, with an average length of 2.3 weeks.
This is in addition to two weeks of 'Dad and Partner Pay' offered by the federal government, paid at the minimum wage.
More than 80 per cent of employers paid superannuation during at least the paid parental leave period, but of that group, just 7 per cent are also offering superannuation on the government-funded parental leave scheme.
Ms Wooldridge says whether it's offered by the government or the private sector, paying superannuation on paid parental leave is one of the ways to address the big gap between what men and women retire on.
Policy call ahead of the federal election for 26 weeks paid parental leave
Grattan Institute chief executive Danielle Wood notes that some OECD countries offer up to 55 weeks paid parental leave.
She wants the federal government to offer more generous policies around paid parental leave and childcare.
"The importance of the government scheme is really it's a safety net," Ms Wood says.
"Australia, at a minimum should be looking at 26 weeks for each family, including 'use it or lose it' leave for dads and partners. On top of that, we should be looking at things like the cost of childcare."
Single parents would get the full 26 weeks paid parental leave under the Grattan Institutes' policy.
Couples would get 12 weeks to use between them how they want, but there would be a six-week 'use it or lose it' component for each parent, plus a bonus two weeks if they both take equal time off.
"In that world, each family is sort of guaranteed an income while they spend six months at home with their children," Ms Wood says.
"There's really fantastic evidence that when men are actively involved in care in the early years of a child's life, it's good for men's mental health, it's good for family wellbeing, and really importantly, it's good for the children's emotional and intellectual development."
"That's a really important cultural change."
The Grattan Institute estimates that expanding Australia's paid parental leave scheme to 26 weeks for all families would cost the federal budget $600 million, but it would deliver $900 million in increased GDP and economic benefits through increases in women's workforce participation.
Some grandfathers live with 'regret' that they didn't spend more time with their kids
Mr Poser, who was born in Germany, says Australia could be more generous with its paid parental leave policies as well as childcare, which is heavily subsidised in his country of origin.
"I think child care can be a really dominant barrier," he says.
"My observation has been if there's a lack of childcare, it's probably more women who hold back returning to more work than necessarily the men."
He says it is not just about the policy that's offered on paper, but that fathers are "proactively encouraged" by an employer to take parental leave.
Mr Poser notes the older generation were not offered the same policies that have enabled him to stay at home and spend more time with his kids.
His advice to other fathers is to take up the opportunity to take paid parental leave for as long as it's offered.
"Give it a go. Give it a try. Have a chat with your employer, have a chat with your leader and your colleagues on what's the best way of making it work. You will probably be very positively surprised [about] how much you get out of it," he says.
