Parental Leave in Australia

Paid leave and unpaid leave work together

Most new parents use two separate entitlements. Parental Leave Pay is money from the government, paid through Services Australia. Unpaid parental leave under the National Employment Standards protects your job while you are away. You can have one without the other. Some employers also pay their own parental leave.

Parental Leave Pay: how much and how long

Parental Leave Pay follows the national minimum wage. For days you take in 2026–27, it pays $200.94 a day before tax, or $1,004.70 for a five-day week. Days taken in 2025–26 paid $189.62 a day. Each day is paid at the rate for the financial year you take it in, so a long period of leave can cross two rates. The payment is taxable.

The number of days depends on your child’s date of birth or adoption.

At the 2026–27 rate, all 130 days are worth about $26,122 before tax. A single parent gets every day. If you have a partner, 20 days are set aside for them, and you decide together how to split the rest. You can each take up to 20 days at the same time. For twins or triplets, you can get Parental Leave Pay for one child only.

In many cases your employer passes the payment on to you. Services Australia pays some parents directly.

Super on Parental Leave Pay

For a child born or adopted from 1 July 2025, the ATO adds a 12% super contribution on your Parental Leave Pay. You don’t claim it. The ATO pays it into your fund after the financial year ends. Our guide to women’s superannuation explains why this matters for retirement savings.

Who can get Parental Leave Pay

You need to be caring for the child and be its birth mother, biological father, adoptive or surrogacy parent, or the partner of one of them. You also need to meet residence rules and pass two tests.

• Income test. Your adjusted taxable income must be $186,487 or less in 2025–26. If yours is higher, you can still qualify if your family’s combined income is $386,525 or less. Services Australia looks at the financial year before your child’s birth or your claim, whichever comes first.
• Work test. You must have worked in 10 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption, for at least 330 hours in those months. That is about one day a week. No gap between working days can be longer than 12 weeks. Paid leave counts as work, and there are exceptions for pregnancy-related illness and premature birth.

Self-employed parents and sole traders can get Parental Leave Pay if they meet the same tests.

Unpaid parental leave and your job

Unpaid parental leave is part of the National Employment Standards. You qualify once you have worked for your employer for 12 months in a row. Casual employees qualify too, if they have worked regular and systematic shifts for 12 months and expected that work to continue.

• How long. Each parent can take up to 12 months, whatever the other parent takes.
• Extending it. You can ask for up to 12 more months, for 24 in total. Ask in writing at least 4 weeks before your first 12 months end. Your employer must reply in writing within 21 days, and can refuse only on reasonable business grounds after discussing it with you.
• Flexible days. For a child born or adopted from 1 July 2026, you can take up to 130 days of your leave as separate days within 24 months of the birth.
• Coming back. You are entitled to return to your old job. If it no longer exists, your employer must offer an available job nearest to it in status and pay.
• Keeping in touch days. You can agree to work up to 10 days during your first 12 months of leave, and 10 more if you extend. Your employer pays you as normal for them.

You need to give your employer written notice at least 10 weeks before your leave starts, then confirm the dates 4 weeks before. A pregnant employee can start leave up to 6 weeks before the expected birth.

Employer-paid parental leave

Many larger employers pay their own parental leave on top of the government scheme. In WGEA’s 2024–25 data on employers with 100 or more staff, 68% offered paid parental leave. Check your employment contract, enterprise agreement or HR policy for the details.

More men are taking primary carer’s leave. Men made up 20% of employees taking primary carer’s or universal parental leave in 2024–25, up 3 percentage points in a year.

How leave affects pay over time

Time out of paid work affects earnings for years afterwards. She’s Price(d)less, KPMG’s analysis with WGEA and Diversity Council Australia, links 26% of the gender pay gap to years spent out of the workforce. We cover this in Why the Gender Pay Gap Persists and in The Unpaid Care Divide. If you are planning child care for your return to work, see Child Care Subsidy Explained.

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. For your situation, contact Services Australia on 13 61 50 about Parental Leave Pay, or the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94 about leave at work.