Following the enactment of the Miscellaneous Acts Amendment (Same Sex Relationships) Act 2008, paternity leave is now called ‘paternity or partner leave’ in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Act 1996.

This means that partner leave may apply to same sex partners in some circumstances.

As of 19 December 2005, the Family Provisions Decision 2005 provides extra parental leave arrangements for NSW working parents on state awards. These  include:

• an additional period of up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave
• a maximum of eight weeks simultaneous unpaid parental leave 
• a part-time return to work, until the child reaches school age.

Eligible parents working under state awards have the right to request these conditions of their employer. The employer is obliged to consider the request and can only refuse on reasonable grounds. Such grounds might include cost, lack of adequate replacement staff, loss of efficiency and the impact on customer service.

Standard carers leave provisions under state awards have also been amended to:

• extend existing paid carer's leave to include emergency situations
• authorise unpaid absences for casual employees who need time off to attend to family care, bereavements and emergencies.

What is parental (maternity & paternity or partner) leave?

Workers in NSW are entitled to take a minimum amount of unpaid time off work on the birth or adoption of a child, unless otherwise specified in their award or agreement. 

Parental leave can be:

• Maternity leave, in connection with a pregnancy or the birth of a child.
• Paternity or partner leave, for a worker whose spouse is having a child.
• Adoption leave, for parents who have adopted a child under 18 years of age.

Workers cannot be forced to take parental leave.

Am I eligible for parental leave?

All workers may be entitled to parental leave. Full-time, part-time and casual workers all qualify for parental leave after completing at least 12 months continuous service with an employer.

If you are a casual worker, and have worked on a regular and systematic basis for at least 12 months with a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment, you will be entitled to parental leave.

Once a worker has completed 12 months with the same employer, he or she is usually entitled to a separate period of parental leave for each future child.

How much parental leave am I entitled to?

You will be entitled to a maximum of 52 weeks leave as follows:

• maternity leave: an unbroken period, taken during or after pregnancy
• paternity or partner leave: an unbroken period of up to one week taken at the time of birth (short paternity or partner leave) and a further period of unbroken leave, taken in order to be the child's primary care giver (extended paternity or partner leave)
• adoption leave: an unbroken period of up to three weeks, taken at the time of placement (short adoption leave) and a further period of unbroken leave, taken in order to be the child's primary care giver (extended adoption leave).

All parental leave must be completed before the child's first birthday or anniversary of adoption however workers covered by the NSW industrial relations system may request additional leave.

A worker and their spouse may not take parental or partner leave at the same time, except where one spouse or partner is on a period of 'short paternity or partner leave' or 'short adoption leave'.