How Much Paid Carer's Leave Do You Get in Australia?

Full-time employees generally accrue the equivalent of 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave each year, and part-time employees accrue a pro-rata amount based on ordinary hours. Paid carer's leave comes from that shared balance; there is not ordinarily a separate additional 10-day paid carer's leave account.

An employee can use accrued paid leave when they need to care for or support an immediate family or household member because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency. The amount available at a particular time depends on the balance already accrued and any sick or carer's leave previously used.

Casual employees generally do not receive paid carer's leave under the National Employment Standards. They can take 2 days unpaid carer's leave per qualifying occasion. Full-time and part-time employees can also access that unpaid entitlement when they have no paid personal/carer's leave left.

This page focuses on the amount. For evidence and purpose, read Carer's Leave Certificate in Australia. For the shared balance, see Difference Between Sick Leave and Personal Leave.

This is general workplace information, not individual legal or payroll advice. Awards, enterprise agreements, contracts and policies may provide more generous benefits. A certificate request remains subject to clinical assessment and does not guarantee paid leave.

Key Points

• Paid sick leave and paid carer's leave use one personal/carer's leave balance.
• Full-time employees generally accrue 10 days of that combined leave each year.
• Part-time employees accrue a pro-rata amount based on ordinary hours.
• There is no separate yearly 10-day paid carer's leave account under the National Employment Standards.
• An employee can use the available balance for qualifying care or support.
• Unused paid leave carries over from year to year.
• Payment is at the base rate for ordinary hours the employee would have worked.
• Casual employees receive 2 days unpaid carer's leave per permissible occasion, not paid carer's leave.
• Notice and reasonable evidence requirements can apply.

Medical Certificates

The Paid Balance Is Shared

The Fair Work paid sick and carer's leave guidance describes sick and carer's leave as one entitlement, also called personal/carer's leave. Sick leave is used for the employee's incapacity; carer's leave is used for a qualifying caring need.

If a full-time employee has accrued 76 hours and previously used 20 hours while personally sick, 56 hours remain available for either future sick leave or qualifying carer's leave. Taking carer's leave reduces the same balance.

Payroll may display the account as “personal leave”, “sick leave” or “personal/carer leave”. The label does not ordinarily create separate balances.

Full-Time Employees

A full-time employee's National Employment Standards entitlement is based on 10 days of ordinary hours each year, calculated as 1/26 of yearly ordinary hours. For a 38-hour ordinary week, this generally equals 76 hours accrued progressively over a complete year.

The employee can use available hours for carer's leave when the statutory reason applies. There is not a general rule limiting paid carer's leave to only 10 calendar days in each year if a larger balance has carried over.

The actual deduction corresponds to ordinary hours missed. Caring for someone during one 9.5-hour compressed workday can use 9.5 hours, not an assumed 7.6-hour day.

Part-Time Employees

Part-time employees accrue paid personal/carer's leave proportionally to their ordinary hours. A worker with 19 ordinary hours each week generally accrues 38 hours over a complete year, half the 38-hour full-time example.

Payment and deduction are based on ordinary hours the employee would have worked during the caring absence. A five-hour rostered day generally uses five hours, subject to the available balance and workplace rules.

Where part-time hours change, future accrual changes prospectively. Employees should check the hourly balance rather than comparing “days” with a colleague on another pattern.

Who Can You Care For?

Paid carer's leave is for care or support of an immediate family or household member. Immediate family includes specified partners, former partners, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings, including relevant relationships through a partner.

A household member is someone who lives with the employee, even if they are not related. The person must need care or support because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency.

The detailed relationship guide is Who Counts as Immediate Family or Household?.

What Counts as Care or Support?

Care can mean hands-on assistance, supervision, transport for urgent treatment, managing essential needs or staying with someone who cannot safely be alone. Support can include practical or emotional help required by the health event.

A routine preference to accompany someone does not automatically qualify. For a planned medical appointment, the question is whether illness or injury genuinely creates a need for the employee's care or support.

The page carer's leave for a child's medical appointment applies that distinction to common examples.

How Is Paid Carer's Leave Paid?

The Fair Work payment guidance says sick and carer's leave is paid at the employee's base rate for each ordinary hour or part-hour taken.

Separate overtime, penalties, bonuses, allowances, incentive payments and loadings are generally excluded from the base rate. An award or agreement may provide a more generous amount.

The employee is paid only for ordinary hours they would have worked. A day when they were not rostered does not create paid carer's leave hours.

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What If the Paid Balance Runs Out?

Full-time and part-time employees can generally take 2 days unpaid carer's leave per permissible occasion when they have no paid sick and carer's leave left. They cannot choose unpaid carer's leave while paid carer's leave remains available under the National Employment Standards.

The Fair Work unpaid carer's leave page explains that the two days can be taken continuously or in separate periods agreed with the employer.

Longer care may require annual leave, other unpaid leave, flexible work or another arrangement. Availability and approval depend on the circumstances and applicable workplace terms.

Casual Employees

Casual employees generally do not accrue paid personal/carer's leave. They are entitled to 2 days unpaid carer's leave per qualifying occasion under the National Employment Standards.

“Per occasion” does not mean an annual two-day pool, but it also does not make every shift a new occasion. A continuing illness or emergency can remain one event. Employees should describe dates and circumstances accurately.

See Can Casual Employees Take Carer's Leave? for casual pay, evidence and extended-care options.

Does Paid Carer's Leave Roll Over?

Yes. Because paid carer's leave comes from the personal/carer's leave balance, unused hours carry over during continuing employment. The balance can grow over several years and later be used for either qualifying personal illness or caring needs.

The employee does not lose unused hours at the calendar year end or simply because a payroll system starts a new leave year. The planned personal leave rollover guide explains continuous employment and termination.

Unused sick and carer's leave is not normally paid out when employment ends and generally does not transfer to a new employer.

More Than One Caring Occasion

Paid carer's leave is not allocated as two days per occasion. A permanent employee uses whatever accrued paid balance is genuinely needed for qualifying care. Separate events draw from that same balance until it is exhausted.

For example, an employee might use one day when a child is acutely ill and later use several hours when a parent is injured. Each absence needs its own qualifying facts, notice and evidence where requested, but both reduce the single account.

A continuing episode should not be divided artificially to avoid evidence or create another entitlement. If care becomes long term, discuss a sustainable combination of accrued leave, unpaid carer's leave, flexible work and other available arrangements.

Notice and Evidence

Employees should notify the employer as soon as practicable and state the period or expected period away. Notice can follow the start of leave when earlier notification was not reasonably possible.

The Fair Work notice and evidence guidance says an employer may ask for evidence showing the employee needed to provide care or support. The evidence should satisfy a reasonable person.

A medical certificate or statutory declaration can be evidence. An award or registered agreement may specify timing or type, and privacy of the person receiving care should be respected.

Carer's Leave Certificate Privacy

A carer's leave certificate should focus on the need for care or support and relevant dates. It does not automatically need to disclose the family member's detailed diagnosis, medicines or complete clinical history.

The practitioner needs enough information to assess the request and may need to assess the patient whose health issue creates the caring need. The employee should not ask for a certificate saying they were personally sick when they were providing care.

Each certificate is a clinical decision and is not guaranteed. Dociva does not provide backdated certificates or alter dates to meet a workplace deadline.

Practical Balance Examples

Accumulated balance: A full-time employee has 120 hours carried over. They may use the hours genuinely needed for a parent's qualifying care, subject to notice and evidence; they are not restricted to only the current year's 76 hours.

Low balance: A part-time employee has four hours left but misses a six-hour ordinary shift. Four paid hours may be available, with the remainder requiring unpaid carer's leave or another arrangement.

No rostered hours: An employee provides care on a non-working day. They do not use or receive paid carer's leave merely because care occurred that day.

Surgery support: An employee cares for a partner after surgery. The leave can qualify when the partner needs care or support; the employee should provide appropriate evidence if requested. The related surgery and sick leave guide explains the patient's own incapacity.

Planning Care Without Overstating Entitlement

When a future procedure is known, the employee can ask payroll for the current hourly balance and notify the employer early. The expected recovery may change, so give an estimate and update it rather than claiming a fixed period without clinical support.

Family members can share care where appropriate, but workplace leave is assessed for each employee separately. One person's certificate does not automatically establish another employee's entitlement or dates.

If the balance will not cover the expected period, discuss alternatives before the event. Early planning does not guarantee approval, but it reduces last-minute confusion about paid and unpaid hours.

Urgent Care Comes First

If the family or household member has severe breathing difficulty, signs of stroke, chest pain, major injury, heavy bleeding, reduced consciousness or another emergency, call 000. Do not delay urgent treatment to obtain workplace evidence.

Telehealth may suit some certificate assessments, but the practitioner may recommend in-person or emergency care. The document should reflect what can be safely assessed and supported.

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Using Dociva

Dociva currently accepts online requests for carer's leave medical certificates, along with sick-leave, study and multi-day certificate requests. An Australian registered medical practitioner independently reviews the caring circumstances, relevant dates and available health information.

No certificate is guaranteed. Dociva does not calculate paid carer's leave, decide an employer's evidence policy or backdate a certificate's issue date. A practitioner may request more information or recommend in-person care.

Review carer's leave certificate information for the relevant request pathway. Broader telehealth consultations are also available. Direct balance and pay questions to payroll, Fair Work, a union or an employment adviser.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)