If you are pregnant, taking parental leave or returning to work after parental leave, you have legal protections at work. You may be entitled to unpaid parental leave, Government Parental Leave Pay, safe job transfers, flexible working arrangements, and protection from discrimination and dismissal. This guide explains what you are entitled to and what you can do if something goes wrong at work.
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Discrimination happens when you are treated unfavourably at work because of your pregnancy, breastfeeding, or parental or carer responsibilities. Laws protecting you from discrimination apply to both employees and independent contractors.
Examples of discrimination include being passed over for promotion, changing your job or duties without your agreement, having your hours reduced without agreement, being selected for redundancy, or being dismissed.
Both direct discrimination (treating you less favourably because of pregnancy) and indirect discrimination (e.g. applying a workplace policy that disadvantages pregnant or parenting workers without reasonable justification) are unlawful under both federal and state law. If you have been discriminated against, you may be able to make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission or your state tribunal.
If a manager or colleague discriminates against you, your employer may still be legally responsible unless they can show they took reasonable steps to prevent it. Time limits apply to discrimination complaints. Contact JobWatch for information about your options and time limits before lodging a complaint.
Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), employees are entitled to up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. You are eligible if you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, either as a permanent employee, or as a casual on a regular and systematic basis, with a reasonable expectation of this continuing.
Both parents can take unpaid parental leave at the same time as each other. Each parent’s entitlement is separate. One parent taking leave does not reduce the other’s entitlement.
If you need more time, you can request an extension to a maximum of 24 months total. You must make this request in writing at least 4 weeks before the end of the initial period of leave. Your employer can only refuse your request on reasonable business grounds and must discuss your request with you and respond in writing within 21 days.
You can take some of your parental leave as individual days or different combinations of multiple days rather than one continuous block. This is called flexible unpaid parental leave. Between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, you can take up to 120 flexible unpaid parental leave days. From 1 July 2026, this increases to 130 days.
Flexible unpaid parental leave can be taken before or after unpaid parental leave. You must give your employer at least 10 weeks written notice before your unpaid parental leave starts, specifying the number of flexible unpaid parental leave days you intend to take. You must then give at least 4 weeks’ notice before each specific flexible unpaid parental leave day.
The Australian Government Parental Leave Pay scheme provides paid leave at the national minimum wage rate. For children born or adopted from 1 July 2025, eligible workers can receive up to 24 weeks of pay. This rises to 26 weeks from 1 July 2026.
Eligibility depends on your income, work history and residency status.
Claims are made through Services Australia (Centrelink), not your employer. To check your eligibility and the current payment rate, visit the Services Australia website.
Where medical advice indicates that continuing in your role is inadvisable due to a pregnancy-related illness or risk or hazard connected with your position, you may ask your employer to transfer you to an appropriate safe job at the same rate of pay. This applies regardless of how long you have worked for your employer. You will need to provide your employer with evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person of your pregnancy related illness or the identified risk.
If no safe job is available, what happens next depends on how long you have worked for your employer:
When you return to work from unpaid parental leave, you are entitled to return to your pre-leave position with the same terms, conditions and pay. This is known as the return-to-work guarantee and only applies to those eligible for unpaid parental leave who have complied with notice and evidence requirements If your position no longer exists, your employer must offer you an available position for which you are qualified, nearest in status and pay to your previous role.
If you want to return part-time or with flexible hours, you have the right to make a formal written request for flexible working arrangements. To be eligible, you must have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with your employer and if casual, you need to have been employed on a regular a systematic basis for at least 12 months and have a reasonable expectation of continuing employment on this basis.
Your employer can only refuse your request on reasonable business grounds and must respond in writing within 21 days. If your employer refuses your request and you disagree with the refusal, you can file a dispute with the Fair Work Commission.
If you are on a fixed-term contract, your employer is not required to extend it because you are on parental leave. If your contract ends while you are on leave, you are not automatically entitled to return. However, if your contract is due to end after your return date, you are entitled to return and work out the remainder of your contract.
If you are dismissed while pregnant, on parental leave, or after returning to work, you may have the right to make a claim. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), options include an Unfair Dismissal claim or a General Protections Involving Dismissal claim. You must choose between these claims and file at the Fair Work Commission within 21 calendar days of your dismissal taking effect.
In some circumstances it may be possible to make a separate claim about discriminatory conduct that occurred prior to a dismissal.
JobWatch can help you understand your options before you file. Call us before the 21-day time limit expires.
This information applies to employees in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania covered by the national workplace relations system under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). State anti-discrimination protections also apply under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld), and Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas).
If you meet the eligibility requirements, your employer cannot refuse your request for unpaid parental leave. You must give at least 10 weeks’ written notice before your leave starts and confirm dates at least 4 weeks before it starts. If circumstances prevent this, for example if your baby is born prematurely, give notice as soon as possible.
If you later request an extension beyond 12 months, your employer can only refuse on reasonable business grounds. The Fair Work Commission can deal with disputes about this.
Your employer is allowed to restructure while you are on leave but, if you have applied formally for unpaid parental leave, , your employer must consult with you about any changes that will significantly affect the status, pay or location of your pre-parental leave position.
If your position is made redundant, your employer must first check whether they can offer you acceptable alternative employment.
If no suitable position is available, you are entitled to notice and, if eligible, redundancy pay. You also receive payment for any accrued but untaken leave. If you believe the redundancy was connected to your pregnancy or parental leave, you may have grounds for an unfair dismissal, general protections dispute or discrimination claim.
In most cases, no. You are not legally required to disclose a pregnancy when applying for a job or at the start of employment. An employer cannot lawfully refuse to hire you because you are pregnant, subject to limited exceptions relating to workplace safety or inability to perform the inherent requirements of the job. Questions about pregnancy in a job interview may also constitute discrimination. Contact JobWatch if this happens to you.
A keeping in touch day is when you attend work during your unpaid parental leave, by agreement with your employer. You are entitled to up to 10 keeping in touch days per 12-month period of unpaid parental leave. You must be paid your normal rate of pay for these days.
You can request a keeping in touch day from 15 days after the birth or placement of your child. Your employer can request one from 42 days after. Your employer cannot pressure you to use, or not use, keeping in touch days.
Yes. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), you have the right to request flexible working arrangements if you have a child of school age or younger or have carer responsibilities. (Other grounds also apply, such as disability, age, or family violence). You must also have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with your employer and if casual, you need to have been employed on a regular a systematic basis for at least 12 months and have a reasonable expectation of continuing employment on this basis.
Your request must be in writing. Your employer must respond within 21 days and can only refuse on reasonable business grounds. If your employer refuses and you disagree with the refusal, you can file a dispute with the Fair Work Commission.
The employer may also have obligations to accommodate carer responsibilities under state discrimination law.
It is unlawful for your employer to treat you unfavourably because you are breastfeeding. This includes denying access to appropriate facilities, changing your duties without agreement, or dismissing you. Protections apply under both federal and state anti-discrimination law.
It is also unlawful under the Fair Work Act 2009 for your employer to take adverse action against you because you are breastfeeding.
If you are eligible for unpaid parental leave and your child is stillborn or passes away during their first 24 months of life, you can still take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. Your employer cannot cancel your leave.
If you would like to return to work, you can do so by giving your employer at least 4 weeks written notice. If your leave has not yet started, you can cancel it by providing written notice without the 4-week requirement.
You may also contact Services Australia to discuss your eligibility for either Government Parental Leave Pay or the Stillborn Baby Payment.
If your employer changes your job, duties, hours or pay because you are pregnant, this may be discrimination and there are several different claims you may consider.
If your doctor advises that your current role is unsafe, you can request your employer transfer you to a safe job..
If you are eligible for unpaid parental leave under the NES (that is, you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months and if casual you have been employed on a regular a systematic basis for at least 12 months and have a reasonable expectation of continuing employment on this basis, and you complied with the notice and evidence requirements), your employer must consult you before making significant changes to your role while you are on leave.
Time limits depend on where you lodge your complaint. In Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania you have 12 months from the date of the discriminatory conduct to lodge a complaint with your state tribunal. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, you have 24 months to lodge a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission. The federal timelimit is longer, but the processes are different and there are significant differences between state and federal jurisdictions. Contact JobWatch before deciding which option is best for your situation.
JobWatch provides free and confidential telephone information and referral for workers in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. If you have questions about your rights during pregnancy, parental leave or returning to work, call us.
Melbourne metro: (03) 9662 1933
Regional Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania: 1800 331 617
Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. Wednesday until 8:30pm (Victorian time).
JobWatch is an independent employment rights community legal centre operating across Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. Our free confidential telephone information service assists 14,000+ workers a year.
JobWatch also runs a legal casework practice supporting vulnerable Victorian workers every year with their rights at work. Many of our cases are run through projects that address identified demand among vulnerable workers. Our clients may be more vulnerable to exploitative work situations because of their gender, race, age or visa status. The majority of our clients are not union members, cannot afford legal assistance from a private lawyer, and do not have the capacity for self-representation on their matter.
This information is general in nature and is not legal advice. It applies to employees in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. Contact JobWatch to discuss your particular situation. Information current as at April 2026.
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