Australia’s Paid Parental Leave policy has been amended following its passage through Parliament.
The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022 was approved by the House of Representatives in February and the Senate on March 6.
According to Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, the changes, which come into effect in July 2023, will provide a single Paid Parental Leave scheme with a flexible 20-week entitlement for working parents.
Parents will be able to access the entitlement in multiple blocks, with periods of work in between, offering greater flexibility on leave.
Additionally, the requirement that the primary PPL claimants must be the birth parent will be eliminated, expanding the PPL entitlements granted to single parents to 20 weeks, up from the current 18.
The new family income test of $350,000 per annum will also extend the PPL policy’s eligibility to nearly 3,000 additional parents.
The amendments are part of the government’s plan to expand the country’s paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2026.