Before we give you the funds to deliver to your employee, you need to make sure you’re registered in PRODA and linked to Business Hub. You can follow these steps to register online.
We’ll send you a letter to tell you how long you will need to provide Parental Leave Pay funds to your employee.
Getting the funds
You don’t have to provide Parental Leave Pay before you get the funds from us. We’ll transfer funds into your nominated business bank account before your employee’s usual pay cycle cut off.
You’ll get the funds in instalments, either fortnightly or 6-weekly. We’ll send you a payment advice every time we deposit funds into your account. You are only required to pay the funds up until the current pay period in which you receive them, including any arrears. Future payments should not be paid until the relevant pay cycle. You’ll be able to change the business bank account details online using Business Hub.
If you haven’t received enough funds to provide for your employee’s next payment, call the National Business Gateway on 131 158.
Making payments to employees
When to pay your employee
You must provide Parental Leave Pay to your employee according to their normal pay cycle. For example, if you usually pay them fortnightly in arrears, you must provide their Parental Leave Pay fortnightly in arrears. You can’t provide it in one lump sum and your employee can’t take it at half pay. If we pay you any arrears, you can either:
- provide these to your employee in a lump sum
- pay them according to their normal pay cycle for any periods in the future.
From 1 July 2024, the rate of Parental Leave Pay is $915.80 per week, before tax.
Everyone gets Parental Leave Pay at the same weekly payment rate. Neither of the following will impact this:
- how many hours your employee was working
- how much money they were earning before they went on leave.
How long you must pay your employee
You will need to provide a continuous block of Parental Leave Pay.
We will tell you how long to provide the funds for each employee.
Depending on their circumstances, they may get up to 22 weeks of Parental Leave Pay.
Deductions
The only deductions you can make from an employee’s Parental Leave Pay are:
- Pay as you go (PAYG) withholdings - you must withhold tax from your employee’s Parental Leave Pay at the appropriate rate
- child support deductions, if your employee has a child support liability
- automatic deductions that your employee has in place as part of their usual pay arrangements
- garnishee arrangements
- voluntary contributions to their superannuation, including salary sacrifice arrangements.
Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Contribution
If your employee gets government funded Parental Leave Pay for a child born or adopted from 1 July 2025, the Australian Taxation Office will pay them a superannuation contribution. This is called the Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Contribution (PPLSC). This contribution is based on the superannuation guarantee rate.
You don’t need to calculate or pay the contribution. This will be paid directly to your employee’s superannuation fund after the relevant financial year has ended, starting from July 2026.
While you’re not required to pay superannuation contributions on Parental Leave Pay, you can still make voluntary contributions if you choose to.
Read more about the Paid Parental Leave Superannuation Contribution on the Australian Taxation Office website.
Notifying employees
Record of instalment
You’ll need to give your employee written notification of their Parental Leave Pay within one working day of paying it. This can be on the usual payslip or in a separate notice, such as a letter or email.
The notification must include all of the following:
- your business or trading name
- your Australian Business Number (ABN)
- the employee’s name
- the period to which the Parental Leave Pay relates
- the date you paid or will pay the Parental Leave Pay
- the gross amount of Parental Leave Pay
- the total PAYG amount deducted for all taxable entitlements paid in the pay period
- the total net amount of payment.
If you make other deductions the record must also include details about these. For example, if you make superannuation contributions or deduct child support. The record should include both:
- the amount of the deduction
- the name and number of the account into which the deduction’s paid.
Payment summaries
You must include Parental Leave Pay in the total amount on your employee’s annual or part year payment summary. You don’t need to separately identify it from other amounts.