Paid parental leave will increase from July 2024 (update)

At a glance

Update 8 April 2024:

The government has recently announced that it will fund superannuation payments of 12% on government paid parental leave with effect from July 2025.

• On 18 March 2024, the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023, finally passed the Senate unamended.
• The new legislation provides an extra two weeks of federally-funded paid parental leave this year, lifting the entitlement to 22 weeks (from the existing 20 weeks) from 1 July.
• This entitlement will increase again to 24 weeks from July 2025 and 26 weeks from July 2026.
• The period of leave reserved to one parent will also increase by one week in July 2025 and by a further week in July 2026, making the total leave which must be taken by one parent four weeks from July 2026. 
• The period of leave which can be taken concurrently by both parents is also increasing from two weeks to four weeks.
• Single parents are entitled to the whole period of leave.