Parenting and Pregnancy

Government Paid Parental Leave

At present the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme currently provides 22 weeks (based on a 5-day work week) of payment for a child, with 2 of those weeks reserved for the other parent (subject to eligibility).

To check your eligibility speak with Services Australia or visit, https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/parental-leave-pay-for-child-born-or-adopted-from-1-july-2023  

The date of your child’s birth or adoption will determine how many days PPL you can get. If partnered, the date will also determine how many days they can get.

The number of weeks will increase to 24 from July 2025.

From July 2026 the final figure will be 26 weeks.

Apart from the weeks that are reserved for the second parent, the PPL can be split between parents in a way that suits their family. For instance, if the couple meet the eligibility criteria, they can decide to split the leave between them if they want.

Presently, parents can take two weeks of leave together. From July 2025 that will increase to three weeks.

Not all the leave can be used by one parent.

A few weeks are set aside for the second parent to encourage both parents to take PPL.

For this financial year 2024-2025, two weeks’ worth of the total PPL is only available to the parent who is not using most of the leave.

If those weeks are not used or taken, they are lost in what the government calls a “use-it-or-lose-it scheme.” This means those weeks cannot be transferred to the parent who has taken most of the paid leave.

From July 2025, the total weeks of PPL will increase to 24 but at least three of those weeks must be used by the second parent.

From July 2026, the total weeks of PPL will increase to 26 but at least four of the those weeks will be reserved for the second parent. 

The idea behind providing some weeks for the second parent is to encourage more dads to take leave.

Government Unpaid Leave

From 1 July 2023, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) introduced greater flexibility for all employees taking unpaid parental leave (UPP). This change aligned with updates made to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme (PPL) which came into effect at the same time. Unpaid parental leave is part of the National Employment Standards (NES). 

The NES applies to all employees in the national workplace relations system, regardless of any award, agreement, or contract and the parental leave provisions include:

• Birth related leave and adoption-related leave (including premature birth, still birth or infant death);
• Unpaid special parental leave;
• A right for pregnant employees to transfer to a safe job in appropriate cases, or to take ‘no safe job leave;’
• Consultation requirements;
• A return-to-work guarantee;
• Unpaid pre-adoption leave.

Unpaid parental leave was usually taken in one continuous period. Under the revised legislation, employees can now take up to 100 days of leave outside of this continuous block. Leave can be taken anytime in the 24 months following the birth or placement of their child. This is an increase from the previous 30-day entitlement. 

Pregnant employees are also able to access their flexible unpaid parental leave up to six weeks before the anticipated birth of the child. 

Notice Requirements are now streamlined. Employees are only required to provide one notice 10 weeks before the anticipated birth of their child or placement.

For a pregnant employee, leave can commence up to 6 weeks before the expected date of birth (or earlier if agreed), or within 24 months of the birth of the child. The parental leave must end within 24 months of the birth of the child.

Employer Paid Parental Leave

Many employers provide paid parental leave for the birth parent as a way of valuing, supporting and retaining their staff.  For example, female employees of the NT public service are entitled to 14 weeks paid maternity leave after 12 months of continuous service.  You should check your enterprise agreement, employer policies, contract or letter of offer to see if you may be eligible for paid parental leave.  It is not compulsory for your employer to provide paid parental leave.

Some employers provide paid parental leave for the non-birth parent of a newborn or adopted child. You should check your enterprise agreement, employer policies, contract or letter of offer to see if you may be eligible for paid parental leave as the non-birth parent. 

Employer-funded paid parental leave doesn’t affect an employee’s eligibility for the Australian Government’s Parental Leave Pay Scheme. Employees can get both. Employer funded paid parental leave also runs concurrently with unpaid parental leave meaning that the unpaid parental leave is reduced by the amount of employer-funded paid parental leave taken. For example, if you take a month of employer-funded paid parental leave, you will have 11 months of unpaid parental leave remaining.

What is continuous service? 

Service is the total amount of time that an employee has worked for their employer. Service is used to calculate most accumulated entitlements such as paid leave.

Continuous service is an unbroken period of service. Both paid and unpaid leave periods are counted as service if the leave has been approved by the employer.

What happens if I experience premature birth or birth related complications?

Employees who experience premature births or other birth related complications that result on the newborn baby having to stay in hospital or being hospitalised immediately after birth can now agree with their employer to pause their unpaid parental leave. This means that while their baby is hospitalised, they may return to work and the period where they are back at work won’t be deducted from their unpaid parental leave. 

What happens if I experience stillbirth or the death of a child?

Employees may be eligible to take unpaid parental leave for a maximum of 12 months if they experience a stillbirth or the death of a child during the first 24 months of life and they would have been eligible for unpaid parental leave had the child not died. Employers cannot direct employees to return to work after a stillbirth or death of a child if they are on unpaid parental leave. An employee may still choose to return to work after a stillbirth or death of a child. 

Returning to work

When returning to work from unpaid parental leave you have the right to return to your old position or to a new position if you have been promoted or agreed to accept a new position. It is unlawful for your employer to demote you because of your absence from work. 

If you had been performing light duties or reduced hours prior to commencing parental leave, you are entitled to have your original position back.  If your old job no longer exists and you are qualified and able to work in another position, then you are entitled to work in another position or you may be entitled to a redundancy. When there is more than one appropriate position, you are entitled to the position nearest in status and pay to your former position. 

Some women may not want to, wish to, or be able to return to their full time original position at the end of their parental leave. If this happens to you and you wish to maintain your employment relationship, you will need to negotiate with your employer to find an alternative that works for everyone. Part-time work may be available upon your return.