Australia’s NSW new parental leave policy takes effect

The new parental leave policy for Australia’s New South Wales state government has come into effect, allowing public sector employees to access up to 14 days of paid parental leave.

This would apply to any public sector employee who is the primary caregiver of a child born on or after July 1, and includes full-time, part-time, ongoing, and temporary government employees.

Under the new policy, parents will be paid within 12 months of their child’s date of birth, adoption or surrogacy. 

The other parent would also be able to access two weeks of paid parental leave at the time of birth, adoption or surrogacy, which is an increase of one week from the existing entitlement. 

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“The old maternity leave scheme was not sufficient as it did not allow for families where birth-mothers were not the primary caregiver to access sufficient leave to care for their child. This is great news for new parents who will now have access to the same leave entitlements as birth-mothers,” said Special minister of state Don Harwin, according to The Mandarin. 

“This furthers gender equality in the workplace and ensures that all parents can take appropriate leave to care for their newborn.”