Types of parental leave

Parental leave can be taken in different ways.

On this page:

Parental leave basics

Parental leave is unpaid leave to allow parents to care for their new child. It is usually taken following the birth or adoption of a baby.

Employees can access up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave initially. Employees can also request up to a further 12 months leave.

This means employees can access up to 24 months of unpaid parental leave. It can be taken as:

Different rules apply depending on what type of leave is taken and how it is taken.

Parental leave is unpaid. Employees can receive some payments during parental leave, as outlined on our Payment during parental leave page.

Employees can access additional kinds of leave while pregnant. More information can be found on our Entitlements while pregnant page.

Continuous parental leave

Continuous parental leave is one unbroken leave period. There are different rules for employees who take continuous parental leave, depending on their circumstances - for example, pregnant employees, partners or adoptive parents.

Pregnant employee taking parental leave

If a pregnant employee takes continuous parental leave, it has to start:

  • up to 6 weeks before the expected birth (or earlier if the employer agrees), or
  • within 24 months of the birth of the child.

The parental leave has to end within 24 months of the birth of the child.

An employer may direct an employee to start their continuous parental leave 6 weeks before the expected date of birth in certain circumstances. For more information see Directing employees to start parental leave.

Partner taking parental leave

If the employee taking parental leave isn't the pregnant parent, the leave must start and end within 24 months of the birth of the child.

The employee can start parental leave after the birth of the child if they have or will have responsibility for the care of the child.

Adoptive parent taking parental leave

If the leave is adoption related, the employee parent taking parental leave must start their leave period on the date of placement of the child.

The employee can start parental leave after the date of placement of the child if they have or will have responsibility for the care of the child.

Example: Parents swapping parental leave 

Rekha and Alex are expecting their first child.

Rekha is pregnant with the child. She plans to take 6 months continuous parental leave starting just before the expected birth of the child.

Alex plans on taking parental leave after Rekha returns to work. Alex will remain at work until Rekha’s 6 months of continuous parental leave has ended.

Alex will then take 6 months continuous parental leave.

Flexible parental leave

Flexible parental leave is leave that can be taken flexibly by an employee. For example, as a single day or a combination of multiple days.

Flexible parental leave days are unpaid.

An employee can take part of their 12 months of parental leave flexibly up to:

  • their child’s second birthday, or
  • the second anniversary of their adopted child’s placement.

The amount of parental leave that can be taken as flexible parental leave depends on when the child is born or placed for adoption:

  • before 1 July 2024 – up to 100 days
  • between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025 – up to 110 days
  • between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 – up to 120 days
  • on or after 1 July 2026 – up to 130 days.

Flexible unpaid parental leave can be taken as:

  • a single continuous period of one day or longer
  • separate periods of one day or longer each.

Flexible parental leave can be taken within the first 24 months of the birth or placement of an adopted child.

If a pregnant employee is working in the 6 weeks before the expected birth of the child, they can start taking flexible parental leave during this time.

An employee can take flexible parental leave before and after taking continuous parental leave, including once an employee has returned to work. The total amount of flexible and continuous leave can’t be more than 12 months unless an employee extends their leave – see Extending parental leave.

Example: Taking continuous and flexible parental leave 

Catherine is a new parent who has returned to work after 10 months of continuous parental leave.

As part of her parental leave notice, Catherine told her employer she will take 20 days of parental leave flexibly over the months following her return to work.

Catherine has appointments to attend and other commitments to help care for her child, so she will use flexible parental leave to manage this.

Before starting her flexible parental leave, Catherine gives her employer more than 4 weeks' notice of the specific days she will be taking flexible parental leave to attend the appointments.

On the days of the appointment, Catherine is entitled to take the day off work but she won’t be paid. This is because flexible parental leave under the Fair Work Act is unpaid.

Both parents taking leave

Working parents may both want to take parental leave. The parents can be working for the same or different employers.

Parents can each take up to:

  • 12 months of parental leave or
  • 24 months in total if their employer agrees to extend their leave.

They don’t have to take the leave at the same time as each other. Any flexible parental leave taken is deducted from an employee’s 12 month entitlement.

Example: Both parents taking parental leave 

Tom is a full-time employee and is expecting the birth of his first child with partner Sarah. They both want to take unpaid parental leave.

Tom has planned his parental leave to be at the same time Sarah is taking parental leave to help care for the baby.

Tom is taking 6 months of continuous parental leave starting on the date of the child’s birth. Sarah, who is pregnant, will take 12 months continuous parental leave.

Tom knows that in the child’s first year they will need to get vaccinations and attend appointments. Because of this, Tom tells his employer he will take 28 days of his unpaid parental leave as flexible parental leave after the initial 6-month period to help manage these commitments.

In total, Tom will take 6 months of continuous parental leave and 28 days of flexible parental leave. These periods of continuous and flexible parental leave are unpaid.

Adoption leave

Employees adopting a child under 16 years can access parental leave.

They can also access 2 days unpaid pre-adoption leave to attend relevant interviews or examinations. This leave can't be used if an employer directs an employee to take another type of leave, for example, paid annual leave.

The employee must:

  • give their employer notice of the unpaid pre-adoption leave as soon as possible (which may be after the leave has started)
  • advise the employer of the taking of the leave
  • give the employer reasonable evidence of the need for the leave, if requested by the employer.

Surrogacy arrangements

Surrogacy arrangements involve surrogate parents who give birth to a child and the intended parents of the child.

For information about surrogacy arrangements, see Unpaid parental leave for surrogate and intended parents.

Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.70, 71 and 72

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