Changes have come into effect from 1st July 2023.
Parents with a child born or adopted before 1 July 2023 must take the Paid Parental Leave using the old rules.
Services Australia says:
It’s up to your employee to apply for Parental Leave Pay through Services Australia and work out leave arrangements with you.
Parental Leave Pay helps eligible working parents take time off to care for a newborn or recently adopted child. If you need to provide Parental Leave Pay we give you the funds to pass on to your employees. You should provide the funds in the same way you pay their salary or wages.
To be eligible, they must not be working from the time they become their child’s primary carer. They must also not work until the end of their Paid Parental Leave period.
Employees can take Parental Leave Pay before, after or at the same time as paid or unpaid leave.
Parents with a child born or adopted from 1 July 2023 have up to 100 Parental Leave Pay days. Parents can share these days and take up to 10 days at the same time. These are available as part of the maximum 20 weeks of Parental Leave Pay available to families. They can get Parental Leave Pay as any of the following:
– a single block
– multiple smaller blocks
– single days
– a combination of smaller blocks and single days.
We’ll only ask you to deliver Parental Leave Pay to employees who meet all of the following:
– are taking at least 8 weeks of Parental Leave Pay, in a block
– the block is within a year of their child’s birth or entry into care
– have been working with you for at least 12 months
– will be returning to your employment after their leave ends.
You only need to deliver Parental Leave Pay once per child for each employee who meets all of these conditions. We’ll tell you the exact dates that you’ll need to provide Parental Leave Pay to your employee.
The scheme doesn’t give your employees an entitlement to leave.
It also doesn’t change any of your their existing leave entitlements. Your employee’s Parental Leave Pay is in addition to their employer provided leave entitlements.
For example, they could get Parental Leave Pay and also take all of the following at the same time:
– paid maternity leave
– annual leave
– unpaid parental leave.
All the details can be found here: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/about-paid-parental-leave-scheme?context=23121
