Paid Parental Leave - equal pay for dads & partners too

Since 2010, the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth) (the Act) has afforded eligible “primary carer” employees of a newborn or adopted child 18 weeks pay at the national minimum wage during the guaranteed parental leave under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). This government funded Parental Leave Pay (PLP) was beneficial for employees without access to paid leave through their employer.

In March this year, the Federal Government passed the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Act 2023 (Amendment).  

The Amendment:

• extends paid parental leave from 18 weeks to 20 weeks;
• removes the idea of ‘primary'; ‘secondary' or even ‘tertiary' claimants;
• removes the requirement that the ‘primary' claimant has to be the birth parent;