Kyle Sandilands welcomed his first son last week and hasn’t taken any paternity leave. Instead, he continues to broadcast with Jackie O.
ARN has confirmed to B&T that Sandilands has decided to continue broadcasting his radio show from home rather than take paternity leave.
ARN Spokesperson told B&T, “ARN is committed to providing its team members with support during parental leave, offering paid parental leave as well as family-friendly, flexible working arrangements.”
However, Sandilands has opted to work through it.
Sandilands has been very open about his journey to fatherhood. From sharing his gender reveal party to introducing his newborn son Otto via radio last week. He even announced on-air that his partner Tegan was giving birth.
Sandilands has taken his KIIS listeners along on his fatherhood journey. It’ll be interesting to see in the next radio ratings if that choice pays off!
But I’m more fascinated by the fact that one of the wealthiest radio jocks ever hasn’t taken paternity leave.
Up bright and early chatting to @kyleandjackieo about electing a Labor Government and Kyle’s new baby boy! pic.twitter.com/HNdMCm6k1D
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) August 17, 2022
Instead, Sandilands has been broadcasting from his home studio every morning.
Now, this could mean a couple of things. Sandilands has a flexible enough schedule with radio, early starts, and early finishes. So that means he can devote enough time to his newborn son.
Or does it also speak to male privilege? Women always need to take some time from work to give birth and raise a baby. Meanwhile, men can carry on us as usual. Their lives are undeniably less interrupted by children.
But I don’t think there’s any denying that if Sandilands took paternity leave, it might have sent a positive message to other fathers. Love him or hate him. Undoubtedly he has influence, and we need more men in the spotlight to advocate and stress the importance of paternity leave to normalise it for everyone.
