Australia · rates from 1 July 2026 · checked 18 October 2026
How much is paid parental leave? $1,004.70 a week before tax, for up to 26 weeks, if your baby is born from 1 July 2026. With a partner, one parent can take at most 22 of the 26 weeks. The other 4 are reserved for the other parent.
Put in the due date, the work and income tests, and how many weeks each parent will take and when. You get the weeks, the dates, the pay before and after tax, and the super.
What you enter stays in your browser. It's an estimate, not an assessment: Services Australia decides what you're paid.
This works out the leave pay. To see it with tax, Family Tax Benefit, Parenting Payment, child care and going back to work, together, see the Net Income Modeller →
Parental Leave Pay is a flat rate, so the amount doesn't depend on your pay. Everyone who qualifies gets the same $200.94 a day for days in 2026-27, up to the family's 26 weeks: $26,122.20 before tax. What changes from family to family is who takes the weeks, when, and how much tax comes off.
The rate is 7.6 hours at the national minimum wage ($26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026). It is set by the day, and each day is paid at the rate for the financial year it falls in, whatever date the baby was born. It changes every 1 July.
| For days in | A day | A 5 day week | A fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027) | $200.94 | $1,004.70 | $2,009.40 |
| 2025-26 (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026) | $189.62 | $948.10 | $1,896.20 |
All of it is before tax. The 2027-28 rate isn't out yet: the Fair Work Commission sets the minimum wage each year, and the rate moves with it.
The number of weeks depends on the baby's date of birth. It is the total for the family, not for each parent.
| Baby born | Weeks for the family | One parent with a partner can take | Reserved for the other parent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 or later | 26 (130 days) | 22 (110 days) | 4 (20 days) |
| 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 | 24 (120 days) | 21 (105 days) | 3 (15 days) |
A week is five paid days. A single parent gets all of them. With a partner, one of you can't take the lot: the reserved weeks are for the other parent, and if they don't take them, the family loses them. A partner who is unable to claim doesn't free them up either. A family that agrees to it can split the weeks any way between the two limits, so 13 and 13, or 22 and 4.
You don't have to take the days in one block. They can be any days from the birth until the day before the baby's second birthday, and you need to use all of them by then. Both of you can be paid for the same day, up to 20 days in all.
The birth mother, her partner, the baby's biological father or his partner, an adoptive parent or a gaining parent in a surrogacy arrangement, and a person caring for a child in exceptional circumstances. You must care for the baby, make a claim, and meet three tests.
Dad and Partner Pay is gone as a separate payment. It was combined into Parental Leave Pay for children born or adopted from 1 July 2023. A partner now claims their own days out of the family's total, and makes their own claim.
Services Australia looks at the financial year before the baby is born (or before you claim, if that is earlier). For a baby born from 1 July 2026 that is 2025-26. You pass the test if either of these is true.
| The test | For a baby born from 1 July 2026 | For a baby born in 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|
| Your own adjusted taxable income is no more than | $186,487 | $180,007 |
| You and your partner together, or you alone with no partner, are no more than | $386,525 | $373,094 |
The second test is the one most families rely on. A single parent isn't turned away at $186,487: a single parent's own income is tested against the larger limit. Each of you is tested separately, so one of you can pass and the other not. Adjusted taxable income is your taxable income plus things like reportable fringe benefits and reportable super contributions.
Yes to both. Parental Leave Pay is taxable income. It is added to the rest of what you earn in the year, so the tax it adds depends on your other income and on when the days fall. A leave that crosses 30 June is split by the day across two income years. The calculator does that, and shows the tax in each year.
If the baby was born or adopted from 1 July 2025, the ATO pays a super contribution on your Parental Leave Pay into your super fund. It is worked out at the super guarantee rate (12%) plus an interest amount, paid after the end of the financial year, and you don't claim it. The fund taxes it at 15%, and it counts towards your concessional contributions cap. The calculator shows the 12%, so the real amount is a little higher.
Parental Leave Pay is income. Services Australia counts it when it works out Family Tax Benefit and Parenting Payment, so those payments can be lower in a year you are paid it. The super the ATO pays on top isn't counted. This calculator works out the leave pay only. It doesn't work out how your other payments move, and it doesn't cover the Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement, which have their own rules.
A baby is due on 2 November 2026. The birth parent earns $85,000 a year and the partner $95,000, and both pass the work test and the income test (both are well under $186,487). They take all 26 weeks: the birth parent 18 weeks from the day of the birth, and the partner 8 weeks from 8 March 2027. We ran the calculator with those inputs.
| Birth parent | Partner | Together | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks of Parental Leave Pay | 18 | 8 | 26 |
| Paid days | 90 | 40 | 130 |
| Leave pay starts | 02/11/2026 | 08/03/2027 | |
| Last week ends | 07/03/2027 | 02/05/2027 | |
| Days × $200.94 | $18,084.60 | $8,037.60 | $26,122.20 |
| Less: the tax it adds | −$5,953.42 | −$2,572.03 | −$8,525.45 |
| Parental Leave Pay, after tax | $12,131.18 | $5,465.57 | $17,596.75 |
| Super the ATO pays on it (12%) | $2,170.15 | $964.51 | $3,134.66 |
Where the tax comes from. A parent on leave isn't earning their usual pay, so the year's pay is lower. The birth parent works 34 of the 52 weeks, which is $55,577. Tax on that, with the Medicare levy and the low income tax offset, is $8,138.29. Add the $18,084.60 of leave pay, to make $73,661.60, and the tax is $14,091.71. The leave pay added $5,953.42. The partner works 44 weeks, which is $80,385: tax of $16,243.20 on that, $18,815.23 with the $8,037.60 of leave pay, and $2,572.03 more.
A few things show in that table. The leave pay is the same $200.94 a day for both, even though one earns $10,000 more. Tax takes about a third of it, because it lands on top of a good wage. And the 26 weeks are all used: 22 is the most one of them could have taken, and the partner took more than the 4 reserved for them.
The rate, the weeks, the income limits and the reserved weeks are Services Australia's published figures. Services Australia's Payment Finder says whether you may be eligible for Parental Leave Pay but doesn't give an amount, so the dollar figures here are the rate times the days, and the tax is worked out from the 2026-27 tax rates.
Parental Leave Pay is one part of what happens to your family's money when a baby arrives. Tax, Family Tax Benefit, Parenting Payment, child care and the day you go back to work all move together. The Net Income Modeller works them out together, so you can see the leave year and the years after it.
The rate and the income limits change every 1 July. Leave your email and we'll tell you when they do, with the new weekly rate and what changed.
For days in 2026-27, $200.94 a day, which is $1,004.70 for a 5 day week and $2,009.40 a fortnight, before tax. A baby born from 1 July 2026 brings up to 26 weeks (130 days) for the family, so up to $26,122.20 before tax. One parent with a partner can take at most 22 weeks ($22,103.40); the other 4 weeks are reserved for the other parent.
A baby born from 1 July 2026 brings 26 weeks (130 days) for the family, and one born from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 brings 24 weeks (120 days). A single parent can take all of them. With a partner, one parent can take at most 22 weeks (21 for a baby born in 2025-26) and the rest are reserved for the other parent. The days can be used in any weeks until the baby's second birthday.
The government funds it and Services Australia, which runs Centrelink, decides it. In many cases your employer passes the payment on to you; sometimes Services Australia pays you directly. Either way it is the same payment. Your employer may also pay its own parental leave, which is separate, and you can take the two before, during or after each other.
The birth mother, her partner, the baby's biological father or his partner, adoptive parents and some others who care for the baby, if they meet the work test, the income test and the residence rules. The work test is working in 10 of the 13 months before the birth, for at least 330 hours, with no gap of more than 12 weeks between working days. A partner is paid only if the birth parent meets the work test too.
Services Australia looks at your adjusted taxable income for the financial year before the baby is born. For a baby born from 1 July 2026 that is 2025-26, and you pass if your own income is $186,487 or less, or if you and your partner together are $386,525 or less. If you have no partner, your own income is tested against the $386,525 limit.
No. Dad and Partner Pay and Parental Leave Pay combined into one payment for children born or adopted from 1 July 2023. A partner now claims their own Parental Leave Pay days out of the family's total, and 4 weeks of the 26 are reserved for the other parent.
Yes, if the baby was born or adopted from 1 July 2025. The ATO pays a super contribution on your Parental Leave Pay into your super fund after the end of the financial year, worked out at the super guarantee rate (12%) plus an interest amount. On $26,122.20 the 12% is $3,134.66. You don't claim it separately.
Yes. Parental Leave Pay is taxable income. It is added to your other income for the year, so the tax it adds depends on what else you earn.
Yes. You can take Parental Leave Pay before, during or after leave your employer pays, including annual leave and long service leave. Parental Leave Pay is not paid for a day you do more than an hour of work.
It can. Parental Leave Pay is taxable income and counts as income when Services Australia tests Family Tax Benefit and Parenting Payment, so those payments can be lower in a year you are paid it. The super the ATO pays on it does not count.
Not quite. Parental Leave Pay is the government's payment, and it can go to either parent. Maternity or parental leave from your employer is separate and set by your employer or your award. This calculator works out the government's part, and lets you enter employer-paid leave so the tax is right.
Services Australia and ATO pages read on 18 October 2026.
General information about Parental Leave Pay from 1 July 2026 as at 18 October 2026, not personal advice and not an assessment. Services Australia decides what you are paid. Confirm your own situation with them.