Paid Parental Leave 2026: The Complete Guide to 26 Weeks, the Pay Rate, Super and the Rules Parents Miss

Parental Leave Pay is the Australian Government's paid leave for parents of a newborn or newly adopted child. For a baby born or adopted on or after 1 July 2026, a family can get up to 130 days — 26 weeks — at $200.94 a day before tax — $26,122.20 in total if you take every day in 2026–27. For the first time, the government also pays 12% super on top. But couples lose 20 of those days if the second parent doesn't claim them, the birth mother has to pass the work test even if only her partner is claiming, and missing the 14-week claim window can cost you days.

Rates for 2026–27, checked on Services Australia's, the ATO's and the Fair Work Ombudsman's own pages on 20 September 2026.

Key takeaways

• 26 weeks for babies born from 1 July 2026 (130 days), up from 24 weeks for 2025 births. The rate is $200.94 a day, or $1,004.70 for a 5-day week, before tax.
• Super is now paid on it: for children born or adopted from 1 July 2025, the ATO pays a 12% contribution into your super fund after the financial year ends — about $3,135 on the full 26 weeks.
• Couples: 20 days are reserved for the second parent. One parent can take up to 110 days. If the other parent doesn't claim, those 20 days — worth $4,018.80 before tax — are simply lost.
• You need to pass a work test (10 of the 13 months before the birth, at least 330 hours) and an income test ($186,487 or less individually, or $386,525 or less as a family, in 2025–26).
• Claim early: you can lodge up to 3 months before the due date, and you need to claim and prove the birth within 14 weeks to be paid from the birth date.
• It's flexible: take the days in blocks or single days, including weekends, at any time in the first 2 years, before, during or after your employer's own paid leave.

How much you get

The number of days depends on your child's date of birth or adoption:

The rate depends on when you take each day, not when your baby was born. Days taken in 2025–26 were paid at $189.62; days taken from 1 July 2026 are paid at $200.94, which is the national minimum wage of $26.44 an hour for a 7.6-hour day.

If you made a claim before 1 July 2026 for a baby who was then born on or after that date, you don't need to do anything: Services Australia adds the extra 10 days automatically once it gets proof of birth.

What 26 weeks is worth: 130 days × $200.94 = $26,122.20 before tax if every day falls in 2026–27, plus around $3,135 in super. Days you push into 2027–28 are paid at that year's rate, which usually rises on 1 July, so spreading them out tends to increase the total rather than reduce it. Parental Leave Pay is taxable income. When Services Australia pays you, it withholds tax at 15% unless you ask for a different rate — and it warns that this may not be enough, so you could owe more at tax time.

Our calculation using the published 2026–27 daily rate. The super figure is 12% of the pay; the ATO's actual payment also includes an interest component.

Super on Parental Leave Pay: new from 2026

For a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2025, the ATO pays a Paid Parental Leave superannuation contribution of 12% of the Parental Leave Pay you received. Three things to know:

• It arrives later. The ATO pays it as a lump sum after the end of the financial year in which you were paid — so the first payments started from July 2026.
• It goes to your fund automatically. It's based on the super guarantee rate and includes an interest component. It's generally taxed at 15% in the fund and counts towards your concessional contributions cap.
• Your employer isn't required to add super on Parental Leave Pay, even when they're the one paying it to you — but they're allowed to, and some do. Check your enterprise agreement or workplace policy.

Who can get it

You must be caring for a newborn or recently adopted child, and meet five requirements.

1. The work test. You must have worked for:

• 10 of the 13 months before the birth or adoption, and
• at least 330 hours in those 10 months (around one day a week),
• with no gap of more than 12 weeks between two working days.

Paid leave counts — sick leave, annual leave and paid maternity leave. So do previous Parental Leave Pay days, counted as 7.6 hours each. Unpaid leave, including unpaid maternity leave, does not count.

2. The income test. Services Australia looks at the financial year before the birth or your claim date, whichever is earlier — for most babies born now, that's 2025–26. You pass if your individual adjusted taxable income was $186,487 or less. If you earned more, you can still pass the family test: you and your partner's combined adjusted taxable income was $386,525 or less.

3. The residence rules. You must be living in Australia and be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a Special Category visa, a partner provisional visa or a temporary protection visa — both on the day your child is born or adopted and on every day you're paid. If you're a new resident you may have to wait 2 years, and those 2 years have to fall before the birth.

4. Not working on the days you're paid — see "Working while you're on Parental Leave Pay" below.

5. Registering the birth. For a newborn, you must have registered the birth with your state or territory birth registry, or applied to, and told Services Australia.

Sharing the days: the rules couples miss

• Single parents get all 130 days.
• Couples: 20 days are reserved for the second parent, so one parent can take up to 110 days. Services Australia is explicit: "If only one of you is eligible, the reserved days limit still applies." The limit also stays if you separate after you claim.
• Both parents can be paid at the same time for up to 20 days, for a child born from 1 July 2025.
• The birth mother must pass the work test even when only her partner is claiming. In Services Australia's words, "if you don't meet the work test, but they do, neither of you will be eligible." That applies when the person claiming is her partner, the biological father or his partner, and not to someone claiming under exceptional circumstances.

There are exemptions to the reserved days, for example if your partner can't care for the child because they have died, their whereabouts are unknown, there's a parenting order, they're in prison, they have a medical condition, or they're a defence force member deployed overseas for the whole period; if your child is expected to be in hospital for at least 18 weeks, has a medical condition needing high care for at least 18 weeks, was stillborn or has died; or if you're experiencing family or domestic violence. You apply by calling the Centrelink families line after you claim.

What the 20 reserved days are worth: 20 × $200.94 = $4,018.80 before tax, plus about $482 in super. For most two-parent families, that's the single easiest amount to leave on the table.

When and how the days are paid

You can take the days as a block, as single days, or as a mix, on weekdays, weekends and holidays, at any time within 2 years of the birth or adoption.

Who pays you: your employer usually pays you Parental Leave Pay through your normal pay if you've worked for them for at least 12 months before the birth, they're Australian-based, and you've asked for a continuous block of at least 8 weeks (weekdays only) that is your first Parental Leave Pay for that child and falls within the first year, and you'll still be employed there at the end of the block. Otherwise, Services Australia pays you every 2 weeks.

Your employer's own paid leave is separate. You can take Parental Leave Pay before, during or after employer-funded paid or unpaid leave, and the Fair Work Ombudsman confirms you can receive both at the same time.

Unpaid parental leave under the Fair Work Act is also separate: employees with at least 12 months' service can take up to 12 months of unpaid leave and request up to 12 more. You need to give your employer at least 10 weeks' notice, and Services Australia suggests talking to them at least 10 weeks before the due date.

Working while you're on Parental Leave Pay

Parental Leave Pay is only for days you're not working. Services Australia counts you as working if you do more than an hour of paid work that day, and that includes keeping-in-touch days: attending a meeting, doing on-the-job training or getting familiar with your role before you return.

If you plan to work on a day you've asked to be paid, move the day or return it to your balance in your Centrelink online account — you don't lose it, but you can't be paid for it. A birth mother can't be paid for any day in the first 14 days after the birth on which she works — the "allowable reasons" that let other parents work on a paid day, such as a compulsory recall to duty or emergency work, don't apply to her in that period.

The deadlines

• Up to 3 months before the due date: you can lodge your claim (the law allows up to 97 days before).
• At least 10 weeks before the due date: talk to your employer.
• Within 14 weeks of the birth: claim and give proof of birth to be paid from the birth date. Services Australia can pay up to 100 days in the past.
• Within 52 weeks: at least one parent must have claimed. The other parent has up to 2 years.
• Within 2 years: every day must be used, or it's lost.

Parental Leave Pay and other family payments

• Family Tax Benefit Part B isn't paid on days either parent gets Parental Leave Pay.
• It counts as income. Parental Leave Pay is assessable income for Family Tax Benefit, the Child Care Subsidy and income support, so put it in your family income estimate and expect a lower rate of any income support while you're paid. If you're on an income support payment, choosing Parental Leave Pay days in the past can create a debt you have to repay — pick future days instead.
• The Newborn Upfront Payment ($708) and the Newborn Supplement aren't paid for a child you get Parental Leave Pay for. At up to about $2,834 for a first child — and about $1,418 for a later child — they're worth far less than 26 weeks of Parental Leave Pay, so they mainly matter for families who don't qualify for it — for example, if neither parent passes the work test. They come through Family Tax Benefit Part A.

How to claim

1. Talk to your employer at least 10 weeks before the due date, so they can set up the payment.
2. Get a Customer Reference Number and link Centrelink to your myGov account.
3. Gather what you'll need: your employer's ABN and contact details, your bank details and tax file number, your work hours, your income, and your partner's income if yours is over the individual limit.
4. Lodge the claim in your Centrelink online account, up to 3 months before the due date.
5. After the birth, give proof of birth quickly — if you claimed before the birth you have 56 days from your child coming into your care to give Services Australia their details and that proof — and the second parent lodges their own claim for their days.

What's next

26 weeks for births from 1 July 2026 is the final step of the legislated expansion: the schedule in the Act stops there, and as at 20 September 2026 no further increase has been announced for 2027. A four-phase government evaluation of the scheme is still running, so that could change. The pay rate usually changes on 1 July each year, in line with the national minimum wage.

When you're ready to plan care after leave, see what the 3 Day Guarantee means for your childcare bills, and browse parent-and-baby activities near you.

Frequently asked questions

How long is Paid Parental Leave in 2026?

For a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2026, up to 130 days, or 26 weeks of 5-day weeks. For a child born between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 it's 120 days (24 weeks).

How much is Parental Leave Pay?

$200.94 a day before tax from 1 July 2026, or $1,004.70 for a 5-day week. The full 130 days is $26,122.20 before tax, plus a 12% super contribution paid by the ATO after the financial year ends.

Is super paid on Parental Leave Pay?

Yes, for children born or adopted from 1 July 2025. The ATO pays 12% of your Parental Leave Pay into your super fund as a lump sum after the end of the financial year. Your employer isn't required to pay extra super on it, though some choose to.

Can my partner and I both get Parental Leave Pay?

Yes. For a child born from 1 July 2026, 20 of the 130 days are reserved for the second parent, and you can both be paid at the same time for up to 20 days. If the second parent doesn't claim, the 20 reserved days are lost.

What is the income limit for Paid Parental Leave?

An individual adjusted taxable income of $186,487 or less in the 2025–26 financial year, or, if you earn more, a combined family income of $386,525 or less.

Can I do keeping-in-touch days while getting Parental Leave Pay?

Yes, but not on a day you're paid. If you do more than an hour's work on that day, including a keeping-in-touch day, move the Parental Leave Pay day or return it to your balance.

Related reading

• The 3 Day Guarantee and your childcare bills
• The Child Dental Benefits Schedule: who's eligible
• Help with school costs in every state

Sources: Services Australia pages on Parental Leave Pay amounts, scheme changes, sharing, claiming timeframes, work and income tests, residence, working on a Parental Leave Pay day, what affects your payment, effects on your other payments, what you need to claim, choosing and getting your payments, and exemptions (updated 2025–2026); Paid Parental Leave Act 2010, compilation of 1 July 2026; Department of Social Services Paid Parental Leave Guide v2.00 (August 2026); ATO, Paid Parental Leave superannuation contribution (July 2026); Fair Work Ombudsman, types of parental leave and payment during parental leave (2026). All read 20 September 2026. This is general information, not financial or legal advice.