Gender-neutral claiming added as parental leave cap lifted to $350k

Gender-neutral claiming will form part of a modernised government paid parental leave scheme which will be expanded to families earning up to $350,000.

Gender-neutral claiming will form part of a modernised government paid parental leave scheme which will be expanded to families earning up to $350,000.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the details of the restructured scheme, to be announced as part of a suite of measures for children and families in Tuesday’s Federal Budget.

Under the most significant changes to the paid parental leave (PPL) scheme in over a decade, a simplified, single claims process will allow either parent to be the primary claimant - removing the current requirement that it be the birth mother.

Six extra weeks of paid leave will be available to families under the expanded scheme; from 20 weeks per family from July 1, 2023 it will jump two weeks each year to a maximum of 26 weeks by July 1, 2026.

A two-week ‘use it or lose it’ period will also be put in place next July, and expanded over time, to encourage more dads and partners to take time off with their infants.

The new measures - estimated to benefit 60,000 families across the state - will also allow new parents more flexibility in how they take their leave.

Currently the first 12 weeks of leave must be taken consecutively with parents forced to forfeit any entitlements if they return to work before that time; under the changes they can take leave in blocks as small as one day at a time and work in between.

Both parents will also be able to access weeks of the payment at the same time under the revised scheme, allowing them to enjoy time together with their children. They’ll also both be able to take it concurrently with any employer-paid leave.

Eligibility will also be expanded with the introduction of a $350,000 family income test from July 1, 2023, which families can be assessed under if they don’t meet the individual income test ($156,647 in 2021-22).

Measures to strengthen migrant families’ access to paid leave have also been included, with dads and partners who meet residency requirements supported to receive payments in circumstances where the birth mother does not meet the newly arrived resident’s waiting period condition.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Picture: Ben Searcy

Federal Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the changes to the PPL scheme, and improved measures for children and families more broadly, would help working families and ease cost of living pressures.

“We are committed to making a better Australia and leaving no one behind. These measures to help families do just that,” she said.

“Our PPL changes will make it easier for families to share care by removing the current requirement that the primary claimant must be the birth parent.

“This will make it easier for partners to take leave and remove assumptions about mothers and fathers being ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ carers.”

The Federal Government will provide $530 million over four years for the scheme, which will need to be legislated by March 2023.

The Department of Social Services estimates that more than 180,000 Australian families will claim following the changes.

In the last financial year, almost 179,000 Australians received government parental leave pay according to department figures, including nearly 60,000 NSW families.