Parental Leave Pay in Australia: rates, eligibility and deadlines

What you are entitled to

Parental Leave Pay is a government payment administered by Services Australia. It is not paid by your employer out of their own money, and it is not the same thing as any paid parental leave your employer offers on top. Many parents get both.

For the 2026-27 financial year the rate is $200.94 a day before tax, or $1,004.70 for a five-day week. In 2025-26 it was $189.62 a day, or $948.10 a week. The rate you receive is the rate that applies in the financial year of the days you are actually claiming for, not the year your baby was born. If your leave straddles 30 June you will be paid at two different rates, and that is correct rather than an error.

How many days you get depends on your child's date of birth or adoption:

• Born or adopted from 1 July 2026 — up to 130 days, or 26 weeks based on a five-day week
• From 1 July 2025 — up to 120 days, or 24 weeks
• From 1 July 2024 — up to 110 days, or 22 weeks

At the full 130 days, that is a little over $26,000 before tax.

The days reserved for your partner

If you have a partner, part of the entitlement is ring-fenced for them and cannot be transferred to you. For a child born or adopted from 1 July 2026, 20 days are reserved for your partner (up from 15 days in 2025-26 and 10 days in 2024-25). If your partner does not claim those days, the family loses them. Single parents receive all the days.

You and your partner can also take days at the same time — up to 20 days concurrently for a child born from 1 July 2025.

Superannuation

For children born or adopted from 1 July 2025, the Australian Taxation Office pays a Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Contribution on top of your Parental Leave Pay. It is calculated at the superannuation guarantee rate, paid automatically into your fund after the financial year ends, and requires no separate claim.

Exactly who is eligible

You must be caring for the child, make a claim, and meet three separate tests. Failing any one of them disqualifies you.

The work test

You need to have worked 10 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption, and at least 330 hours in those 10 months — roughly one day a week. Services Australia counts 10 months as 295 days and 13 months as 392 days. You can combine work for multiple employers, include paid leave, and count self-employment. Critically, you cannot have a gap of more than 12 weeks between any two workdays in that 10-month window.

There are exceptions for pregnancy-related illness, complications, premature birth, and a Dangerous Jobs provision.

One trap catches partnered couples repeatedly: if the person claiming is the birth mother's partner, the biological father, or the biological father's partner, both of you must meet the work test. If the birth mother does not meet it but her partner does, neither is eligible.

The income test

Your individual adjusted taxable income must be $186,487 or less in the 2025-26 financial year ($180,007 in 2024-25). If you exceed the individual limit, you can still qualify under the family income test: you and your partner combined must be $386,525 or less in 2025-26 ($373,094 in 2024-25). Services Australia uses the financial year before the earlier of your child's birth and the date you lodge the claim.

Single parents are assessed against the family limit too, which is why a single parent earning $276,000 can still qualify.

Residence and birth registration

You must meet Australian residence rules. And if you have a newborn, you must have registered, or applied to register, the birth with your state or territory registry before your payment can be finalised. This is the single most common avoidable delay.

How and when to claim — the deadlines that matter

You can claim up to three months before the birth or adoption. Services Australia will not pay you before the child arrives, but claiming early clears the identity and eligibility checks in advance.

Two hard deadlines:

• If you are the first person to claim for your child, you must claim within 52 weeks of the birth or adoption.
• If someone else has already claimed for your child, you have two years to make your claim.
• All Parental Leave Pay days must be used within two years of the birth or adoption, whichever route you took.

The steps:

1. Talk to your employer at least 10 weeks before your due date. Negotiate your leave and tell them you intend to claim. Your employer needs to be registered with Services Australia, because in most cases they deliver the payment to you through their payroll.
2. Agree the split with the other parent before claiming. Only claim the days you actually intend to take. If you want to share days, the other parent must approve the sharing request in their own Centrelink account before you can submit.
3. Claim online through a Centrelink online account linked to myGov: Make a claim → Families → Apply for Family Assistance (including Paid Parental Leave). If you cannot claim online, call the Centrelink families line.
4. Provide proof of birth or adoption. Payment cannot start until both the claim and all supporting documents are in.

If you lodged a pre-birth claim before 1 July 2026, your balance will show 120 days. Once Services Australia receives proof that the child was born from 1 July 2026, they add the extra 10 days automatically. You do not need to reclaim.

If you do not qualify

Missing the work test or the income test does not leave you with nothing.

• The other parent may still be eligible and can claim in their own right — except in the partnered-parent scenario described above, where both must pass the work test.
• You may qualify for the Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement, a lump sum plus an increase to Family Tax Benefit Part A. You do not claim it separately; Services Australia checks your eligibility when you claim Family Tax Benefit.
• Unpaid parental leave is a separate, employment-law entitlement under the Fair Work Act and does not depend on qualifying for Parental Leave Pay.
• If your baby was stillborn you may receive either Parental Leave Pay or the Stillborn Baby Payment, and Services Australia publishes guidance on choosing between them.

With a multiple birth — twins or triplets — you can only receive Parental Leave Pay for one child.

Where to get help

Services Australia is the governing authority. Start at the Parental Leave Pay section of servicesaustralia.gov.au, which carries the current rates, the work and income test detail, and worked examples. For claim problems, call the Centrelink families line. Your employer's payroll team can confirm whether they are registered to deliver the payment.

If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for it to be reviewed. Ask for an explanation first, then formally request a review by an Authorised Review Officer.