Paid parental leave hits six months as Labor's phased PPL expansion completes

Australian parents can now claim six months of government-paid parental leave, with superannuation paid on top of the fortnightly cash payment.

What changes on 1 July

The Albanese Government's Paid Parental Leave scheme reached 26 weeks on 1 July 2026, the third and final step in a phased expansion that began at 20 weeks and moved to 22 weeks in 2024 and 24 weeks in 2025.verifiedVerified Sourced from Super on Paid Parental Leave and expansion of the scheme (Department of Social Services). Services Australia confirms families can now claim 130 days of Parental Leave Pay for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2026, up from 120 days.verifiedVerified Sourced from More Parental Leave Pay days from 1 July 2026 (Services Australia).

Payments are tied to the national minimum wage. Following the Fair Work Commission's 2026 annual wage review, the rate rose to $1,004.70 a week, or $26.44 an hour, from 1 July.verifiedVerified Sourced from Minimum wages increase from 1 July 2026 (Fair Work Ombudsman). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the change means families accessing the full entitlement will receive 'almost $30,000' across their Paid Parental Leave.

How it is split between parents

Single parents receive all 130 days themselves. In a couple, the number of days reserved for each parent on a 'use it or lose it' basis rose from 15 to 20 days, meaning four weeks each cannot be transferred to the primary carer; the remaining 18 weeks can be shared at the family's discretion.

The reserve is designed to encourage fathers and partners to take more leave. Government figures show around 180,000 families are expected to benefit each year from the expansion.

Super on parental leave

Alongside the extra weeks, the Government's Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 delivers a superannuation contribution equivalent to 12% of PPL, applying to babies born or adopted from 1 July 2025 and paid by the Australian Taxation Office into recipients' super funds from the 2026-27 financial year.

The Government has said the change will cost about $1.1 billion over four years from 2024-25 and boost the retirement savings of a parent taking the full 26 weeks by around $4,000, addressing a persistent superannuation gap in which women retire with roughly 25% less super than men.

How it passed parliament

The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023, which set the staged move to 26 weeks, passed the Senate on 18 March 2024. All Greens, Coalition and crossbench amendments were defeated and the bill passed unamended. The superannuation bill was introduced later in 2024.

Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek, who took the social services portfolio in 2025, said on 24 June that 'Labor's changes to Paid Parental Leave mean working parents get more time off and more money when they welcome a new arrival into their family'. Former Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, now Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, said when the reforms were announced that 'from day one, we have strived to make the Paid Parental Leave scheme more flexible, accessible and gender equitable'.

Where Australia sits internationally

Even at 26 weeks, Australia's government-funded scheme sits well below the OECD average total paid leave entitlement of about 52.7 weeks when maternity, parental and home-care leave are combined . Around 68% of Australian employers now offer paid parental leave on top of the government scheme, according to industry reporting .