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How it affects your income support payment
Parental Leave Pay is a taxable Centrelink payment. Read about paying tax on your payment.
Your payment’s income test will include your and your partner’s Parental Leave Pay (PLP).
Adding this to the income test may do one of the following:
- lower your payment
- give you a lower rate for a new payment or stop you getting one
- stop your payment if your total income is too high.
Read about what we assess as income.
When PLP ends
We’ll do both of the following:
- test your income again
- adjust your payment to your new income.
If we cancelled your payment because your income was too high, you can apply again when you stop getting PLP.
How to minimise an overpayment
If you’re on income support and you backdate PLP to the child’s date of birth, you’ll get an overpayment. You’ll have to pay us back. This is because we based your payment for that time on your income without PLP.
You can minimise this by choosing a start date in the future.
When your income support payment is cancelled
Your payment will cancel if you or your partner’s total income is too high. This will also affect your concession cards and Family Tax Benefit.
You can apply for the payment again when PLP ends.
What payment you can get when you have a new child
When you have a new child, you may be eligible for Parental Leave Pay.
If you’re not eligible for Parental Leave Pay, you may still be able to get both Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement.
Parental Leave Pay
Parental Leave Pay (PLP) is based on the national minimum wage. You must meet the eligibility criteria, including meeting a work test and income test.
Your child’s date of birth or adoption will determine how many days you can get. If you’re partnered, the date will also determine how many days they can get.
Check how many days you can get for a child that was born or came into your care from 1 July 2023.
For a child that was born or came into your care before this date, you can get up to 18 weeks, which is 90 payable days.
Once you start getting PLP, you can’t change to Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement.
Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement
Newborn Upfront Payment is a lump sum payment per child.
Newborn Supplement is an ongoing payment for up to 13 weeks. The amount you get depends on how many children you have and your family’s income.
You can still apply for PLP even if we’ve already paid you Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement. But you’ll need to pay us back for those payments if we agree you can switch to PLP. Read more about how to change from Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement to Parental Leave Pay.