In welcome news for new and soon-to-be parents, paid parental leave has today increased from 22 to 24 weeks. It's one of several legislative changes coming into effect on July 1, coinciding with the beginning of a new financial year.
Back in 2022, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a plan to gradually increase paid parental leave across the Australia from just over four months to 26 weeks – or approximately six months. He shared the new policy at a New South Wales State Labor conference, saying that “one of the best ways to boost productivity and participation across our economy is to provide more choice and more support for families and more opportunity for women.”
"This is a modern policy to support modern families. We know that investing in parental leave benefits our economy. It is good for productivity and participation, it's good for families and it's good for our country as a whole," he said.
"More generous and more flexible paid parental leave rewards aspiration and provides every parent of a new baby with greater choice and better support."
By July 2026, this plan will be fully realised, with government-funded Paid Parental Leave again increasing, this time to 26 weeks. Below, everything you need to know about this policy change.
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How long is the paid parental leave scheme in Australia?
The amount of parental leave pay available to families will increase to 120 days (24 weeks) for children born or adopted from July 1, 2025.
This will increase to 24 weeks for children born or adopted after July 1 next year, and to 26 weeks in 2026.
Who is covered under the paid parental leave Australia scheme?
Both parents can share the government-funded paid parental leave.
There are some requirements around who is ellible for the scheme. SPecifically, you must be:
- the birth mother of the newborn child
- the partner of the birth mother
- the child’s biological father
- the partner of the child’s biological father
- the child’s adoptive parent
- the partner of an adoptive parent
- gaining parents in a surrogacy arrangement
- the partner of a gaining parent in a surrogacy arrangement
- a person caring for a child under exceptional circumstances
Services Australia can provide more details on exactly who is eligible.
As part of the policy, the government will maintain its “use it or lose it” strategy, encouraging more fathers and partners to access paid parental leave, meaning both parents can share the early days of a child’s life equitably. The 26 weeks can also be taken in blocks if so chosen, and single parents will be entitled to the full leave offered to a two-person couple.
Social Services Minister, Amanda Rishworth, said this will encourage women’s workforce participation and encourage more fathers to take parental leave, a priority for the government.
"This will benefit mums, it will benefit dads, it's good for children, and it will be a huge boost to the economy," said Rishworth. "We know that treating parenting as an equal partnership helps to improve gender equality. It is important that we have a Paid Parental Leave scheme that supports modern Australian families and that complements other parental leave schemes offered by a growing number of employers."
What about Superannuation?
For the first time ever, superannuation will also be paid on government-funded paid parental leave.
This reform is directly geared towards closing the superannuation gap which sees, on average, women retire with 23 per cent less superannuation than men. This difference can be largely attributed to extended career breaks to have and care for children, which often coincide with part-time and lower-paid roles.
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