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The sun is still hours from rising, but Western Australian senator Fatima Payman is already on her first coffee, getting ready for another day of work — and caring for a newborn.
The independent senator isn't just working to an east coast time zone from Perth; she's working around the unpredictable schedule of a new mum.
Payman is the first WA senator to have a baby while serving in parliament — a distinction that comes with its own challenges, including the more than 3,600km distance between Perth and Canberra.
Between herself and her husband, Jacob Stokes, a former WA Labor staffer, Payman says they are juggling the demands of parenthood with support from their respective families in Perth.
Their daughter, Aliyah, was born in May this year, the couple's first child, and the family spent the first four months in Perth before Payman returned to Canberra to work earlier this month.
By the afternoon, she is often driving to community meetings and other events, sometimes with Aliyah in the baby seat, before returning home for the evening routine.
After Aliyah was born, Payman says she did not take an extended break from work.
In 2021, hundreds of people were interviewed as part of Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins' Set the Standard review into the culture of Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.
A 2022 report by UNSW Sydney and the Pathways to Politics Program for Women examined the barriers facing parliamentarians with caring responsibilities.