Parental leave

About parental leave

Parental leave is time off work for the birth or adoption of your child. This includes paid or unpaid leave.

There are two types of parental leave:

• continuous leave, and
• flexible leave.

Continuous leave is one unbroken period of leave.

Flexible leave can be taken as:

• a single continuous period of one day or more, and
• separate periods of one day or more.

There are different rules for when you can take continuous or flexible leave.

Unpaid parental leave

First baby

If you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, you can take unpaid parental leave if you or your partner gives birth to, or adopts, a child. This includes casual employees who have regularly worked for the same employer for at least 12 months.

Unpaid parental leave is available to people in same-sex de facto relationships and to single parents.

If you are in a relationship, you and your partner can each take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. You can also each request an additional 12 months of leave. This means you can each take up to 24 months (2 years) of unpaid parental leave. It doesn’t matter whether you work for the same employer or different employers.

You can take unpaid parental leave as:

• one continuous period
• a flexible arrangement, or
• a combination of both. 

Having another baby

If you have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months, you can take unpaid parental leave more than once. You don’t have to wait 12 months between periods of parental leave.

However, if you start a new job after your first period of parental leave, you must work for your new employer for at least 12 months before you can take parental leave again.

Paid parental leave

You may be entitled to parental leave pay from:

• the Federal Government, or
• your employer.

If you receive parental leave pay from the federal government, you will also be paid superannuation.

Federal Government parental leave pay

The Federal Government offers parental leave pay to eligible employees. It is paid at the national minimum wage, which usually changes each year.

Currently, eligible parents can get parental leave pay for up to 26 weeks (130 days based on a five-day work week).

You can choose to take your leave:

• all at once
• in multiple smaller blocks
• as individual days
• a mix of smaller blocks and individual days.

To check your eligibility and the current rates of pay, see Parental Leave Pay on the Services Australia website. 

Sharing your leave with your partner

If you are eligible for parental leave pay, you can share your parental leave pay days with your partner. Some of your parental leave pay days will be reserved for your partner. You can take up to 20 parental leave pay days at the same time as your partner.

For more information, see Sharing your payment on the Services Australia website.

Extra leave

Some employees may be entitled to extra paid or unpaid parental leave. You should check your award, enterprise agreement or contract of employment to see what you are entitled to.

For more information, see Parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Superannuation

If you are entitled parental leave pay, you will also be paid superannuation.

When you apply for Parental Leave Pay, Services Australia will check if you are eligible for superannuation.

If you are eligible, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will pay a lump sum into your nominated superannuation fund. This payment will be made in the financial year after the year you received your Parental Leave Pay.

For more information, see Superannuation.

Employer parental leave pay

You may be entitled to receive parental leave pay from your employer if it is permitted in your employment agreement, contract, or workplace policies.

To understand what pay you are entitled to, you should read your employment agreement, contract, or workplace policies, and speak to your employer.

Applying for parental leave

To apply for parental leave, you must give your employer at least 10 weeks’ written notice with the dates of your leave.

For a template letter to your employer, see Giving notice for taking unpaid parental leave – template letter on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

If you can’t give 10 weeks’ notice, you can still take parental leave as long as you notify your employer as soon as possible.  

At least four weeks before you begin your leave, you must confirm your leave dates or tell your employer if these dates have changed.

For a list of things to consider when applying for parental leave, see Employee checklist for unpaid parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

For more information, see Applying for parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Surrogate parents

If you are a surrogate pregnant with someone else’s baby, you may be entitled to up to 12 months unpaid parental leave if:

• the leave is for the birth of the baby, and
• you are caring for the baby.

Your spouse or de facto partner may be entitled to unpaid parental leave as well.

You will need to apply for parental leave as normal.

You can begin taking leave six weeks before the birth of the baby.

If you are no longer  caring for the baby, your employer can ask you to return to work. They must send you a written request to return to work and give you at least:

• four weeks’ notice, or
• six weeks’ notice, if you gave birth to the baby.

For more information, see Unpaid parental leave for surrogate and intended parents on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

If you gave birth to the baby, you may be entitled to parental leave pay from the Federal Government. This gives you time to recover from the birth.

If you have a partner, you won’t be able to share any of your parental leave pay days with them.

For more information, see Who can get it on the Services Australia website.

Intended parents of a baby born via surrogacy

If someone is pregnant with your baby, you may be able to take unpaid parental leave once:

• you are the legal parents of your baby - you have obtained a court order from the Supreme Court of NSW or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and
• you are caring for your baby – not the surrogate.

You can take leave during the 2 years after your baby is born.

For more information, see Unpaid parental leave for surrogate and intended parents on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

If someone is pregnant with your baby, you may be eligible for parental leave pay once you are caring for your baby. You can make a claim even if the surrogate has also made a claim.

You may be able to share your parental leave pay days with your partner.

For more information, see Who can get it on the Services Australia website.

Taking other types of leave

You can take other types of leave during unpaid parental leave, including:

• annual leave
• long service leave
• compassionate leave, if your baby is stillborn.

You can’t take:

• paid sick or carer’s leave
•  community service leave, or
• compassionate leave.

For more information, see Leave.

Accruing other types of leave

You usually don’t accrue other types of leave during your unpaid parental leave, except during:

• a keeping in touch day – when you do work to help with your return to work
• paid leave, such as annual leave.

For more information, see Accruing and taking other leave during parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Extending parental leave

If you have taken unpaid parental leave, you can ask to extend your leave by giving your employer at least four weeks’ written notice.

If you have taken less than 12 months leave, you can apply to extend your parental leave to a total of 12 months.

If you have taken 12 months of leave, you can apply to extend your leave by up to 12 months.

For a template letter requesting to extend your unpaid parental leave, see Request to extend unpaid parental leave beyond initial 12 months – template letter on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

For more information, see Extending parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Ending parental leave

Asking to end leave early

If you want to end part or all of your unpaid parental leave early, you and your employer must agree on a new date for you to return to work. You should put your request in writing. If you already have a verbal agreement with your employer, you should confirm your agreement in writing.

If your employer doesn’t want you to end your leave early, you will need to return to work on the previously agreed date.

If your child is stillborn or dies within the first 24 months after they are born, you can end your parental leave. If you haven’t started taking your leave, you just need to give your employer written notice. If you are already on leave, you need to give your employer at least four weeks written notice before you return to work.

For more information, see Stillbirth, premature birth or death of a child on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Employer asks you to return to work early

Your employer can’t ask you to return to work early if your child is stillborn or dies within the first 2 years after they are born. You can return early if you want to.

If you are on unpaid parental leave and no longer caring for the baby, your employer can ask you to return to work. For example, if you were a surrogate for another couple.

Notice

Your employer must give you written notice of the date that they want to you to return to work. This date must be:

• in at least four weeks, and
• six weeks after the baby’s birth, if you were pregnant.

For more information, see Ending parental leave early on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Returning to work after parental leave

Unless you had a fixed contract, you are entitled to return to your job, even if someone else is now doing your job.

If you were transferred to another ‘safe’ job or reduced your hours before you took leave, you are entitled to return to the job were doing before your transfer or reduced hours.

Job has changed

If your employer wants to make significant changes to your job while you are on parental leave, they must consult with you about the changes.

Redundancy

If your job no longer exists, your role has been made redundant. You must be offered a suitable job that you are qualified to do and is nearest to your old pay and status.

For more information, see Returning to work from parental leave on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

Last updated: July 2026