Paid Parental Leave from 1 January 2011
A government funded Paid Parental Leave scheme will be introduced. The parental leave payment will be equal to the federal minimum wage (currently $543.78 per week), and can be for up to 18 weeks.
The primary carer must have earned less than $150,000 (income test yet to be defined) for the financial year prior to the child’s birth or adoption, and have satisfied a work test. The work test requires the person to have worked at least 330 hours in the preceding 10 months, which equates to one full-time day per week. They must also have worked continuously for 10 out of the 13 months preceding the birth or adoption; therefore the work test cannot be satisfied by only working full-time for two months prior to the birth of a child.
The Baby Bonus will not be payable if claiming Paid Parental Leave. Neither will other family assistance payments, such as Family Tax Benefit Part B, dependent spouse, childhousekeeper and housekeeper tax offsets, for the period of payment of the Paid Parental Leave. In the case of multiple births, the Baby Bonus would still be payable for the second child.
The payment will form part of the person’s taxable income, and can be transferred to another caregiver if the primary carer returns to work.
