What Is Unpaid Carer's Leave?

Unpaid carer's leave is a National Employment Standards entitlement that lets an employee take time away from work to care for or support an immediate family or household member who is ill, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency.

It is available to all employees in the national workplace relations system, including casual employees. Full-time and part-time employees generally use it only when they cannot take paid personal or carer's leave for the same period, such as when their accrued paid balance has run out.

The minimum entitlement is two days for each permissible occasion. It is not a bank of two days for an entire year, and it does not accumulate like paid personal or carer's leave.

This article explains the minimum federal entitlement. An award, enterprise agreement, contract or employer policy may provide a more beneficial arrangement. For the broader evidence rules, read Carer's Leave Certificate in Australia.

This is general workplace information, not legal or medical advice. Whether an absence qualifies depends on the employee's circumstances, relationship, need for care and applicable workplace instruments.

Key Points

• All employees, including casuals, can access unpaid carer's leave.
• The minimum entitlement is two days for each permissible occasion.
• The person needing care must be immediate family or a household member.
• Illness, injury or an unexpected emergency must create a need for care or support.
• Full-time and part-time employees normally use available paid carer's leave first.
• The leave can be taken as one continuous period or in agreed separate periods.
• Employees must give notice as soon as practicable and may need evidence.
• An employer can ask for evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person.

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Who Can Take Unpaid Carer's Leave?

The Fair Work Ombudsman explains that full-time, part-time and casual employees can take unpaid carer's leave. Casual employees do not receive paid personal or carer's leave under the National Employment Standards, so this unpaid entitlement is particularly important for them.

A full-time or part-time employee cannot generally choose unpaid carer's leave while they could take paid personal or carer's leave for the same absence. They use the accrued paid entitlement first, then may access unpaid leave if the qualifying need continues or arises again.

The entitlement applies from the beginning of employment. Unlike paid personal leave, it does not depend on accruing hours over time.

Employees outside the national system, including some state public sector or local government workers, should confirm the legislation that applies to them.

Who Counts as Immediate Family?

Immediate family includes a spouse or former spouse, de facto partner or former de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. It also includes those relatives of the employee's spouse or de facto partner.

A household member is a person who lives with the employee, even if they are not related. This can make the entitlement relevant where a person shares a home with a close friend or another person who genuinely needs care.

The legal definition matters. Caring for a friend who does not live with the employee may be compassionate and necessary, but it is not automatically unpaid carer's leave under the federal minimum.

If the relationship is not obvious, explain it without providing more personal information than the employer reasonably needs.

What Is a Permissible Occasion?

A permissible occasion occurs when an immediate family or household member requires the employee's care or support because of personal illness, personal injury or an unexpected emergency affecting that person.

The focus is on the need for care or support, not merely the existence of a diagnosis. A family member may have an illness but remain fully independent, while another may need transport, monitoring, practical help or emotional support.

Examples can include caring for a child with gastroenteritis, helping a partner after an injury, supporting an elderly parent through an acute episode, or responding when a dependant's usual care arrangements unexpectedly fail.

Routine domestic tasks, school holidays and pre-planned convenience are not automatically qualifying occasions. Another leave type or flexible arrangement may be needed.

How Much Leave Is Available?

Section 102 of the Fair Work Act 2009 provides two days of unpaid carer's leave for each permissible occasion. The entitlement is linked to the occasion rather than a yearly balance.

Two days means the employee's ordinary work periods across those days. For a casual, it relates to the work they were scheduled or expected to perform, subject to the actual employment arrangement.

The leave may be taken as one continuous two-day period. It can instead be taken in separate periods if the employee and employer agree, including a period of less than one day. The related part-day personal leave guide explains how shorter absences are recorded.

Do not assume an employer must approve any proposed fragmentation. Discuss the care need and schedule promptly so both sides can identify an arrangement permitted by the Act and workplace rules.

Does Unpaid Carer's Leave Accumulate?

No. It is not credited to a leave balance and carried forward. A qualifying employee can access up to two days on each permissible occasion, even if another occasion occurred earlier in the year.

That does not mean every day of an ongoing situation automatically creates a new occasion. Whether repeated absences arise from one occasion or distinct occasions is fact-specific.

Keep records of dates, notice and supporting evidence where a condition causes recurring care needs. Clear records help the employee and employer assess each request consistently.

For a comparison with accrued paid leave, see Difference Between Sick Leave and Personal Leave.

Notice Requirements

An employee must notify the employer as soon as practicable, which may be after the leave begins when an emergency makes earlier contact impossible. Notice should identify that carer's leave is being taken and the expected duration.

Follow the workplace's usual reporting channel, such as calling a manager, using a rostering system or emailing a designated address. Telling only a colleague may not satisfy the procedure.

Explain changed circumstances if the absence becomes longer or shorter than expected. Prompt updates help the employer manage staffing and reduce disputes about whether notice was adequate.

Notice does not require a detailed diagnosis. It does need enough information to identify the leave category and expected time away.

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Evidence an Employer Can Request

The employer can request evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that the leave was taken for a qualifying reason. The employee may lose entitlement to the leave if required notice or evidence is not provided.

Depending on the circumstances, evidence could include a medical certificate, carer's certificate, statutory declaration or other reliable document. The law does not require the same document in every case.

A certificate should support the family or household member's need for care without unnecessarily identifying their diagnosis. A practitioner must have an appropriate basis for any statement they make.

See Statutory Declaration vs Medical Certificate for Sick Leave when comparing common evidence options.

Medical Appointments and Planned Care

Accompanying a family member to an appointment can qualify when illness or injury means that person genuinely requires the employee's care or support. Attendance alone does not establish the need.

A routine appointment for an independent adult may not qualify merely because transport is convenient. The employee should consider annual leave, flexible hours or another agreed arrangement if the statutory test is not met.

Planned treatment is not automatically excluded. The question remains whether a qualifying person requires care or support because of illness or injury during the relevant period.

Ask the healthcare provider what it can accurately certify. An appointment receipt may prove payment but not why the employee needed to provide care.

Unexpected Emergencies

An unexpected emergency can qualify even when no one is ill or injured. Fair Work gives the example of a child-minding arrangement unexpectedly becoming unavailable, requiring the employee to care for their child.

The event must affect an immediate family or household member and create a need for care or support. Foreseeable scheduling difficulties are less likely to fit the ordinary meaning of unexpected emergency.

Evidence may differ from medical evidence. A statutory declaration, notice from a school or care provider, or other contemporaneous record may be relevant.

Tell the employer what happened at a practical level while protecting unrelated private details.

Pay, Rosters and Employment Records

The leave is unpaid, so the employee does not receive wages for the absence under this entitlement. A casual also does not receive the casual loading for hours not worked.

The employer should record the absence accurately rather than treating it as paid personal leave or annual leave without agreement. Employees should check their payslip and leave balances after the pay cycle.

An award, enterprise agreement or contract may give a better entitlement, but it cannot undercut the applicable National Employment Standards minimum.

Employees should not be pressured to misdescribe a carer's absence as their own illness. The correct category protects accurate records and evidence.

Can an Employer Refuse the Leave?

Unpaid carer's leave is an entitlement when the legal conditions are met. It is not simply discretionary unpaid leave. However, an employer can challenge a request where the relationship, qualifying need, notice or evidence is not established.

Start by asking which element is disputed and provide relevant information through a private channel. Review the award, agreement and policy alongside the Act.

Employees can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman or seek independent workplace advice if a qualifying absence is denied or adverse action is threatened.

The Fair Work protections at work guidance explains protections connected with workplace rights, including making a request or using an entitlement.

Privacy and Sensitive Information

Evidence about another person's health deserves particular care. Provide only what is reasonably needed to show the relationship, qualifying event, need for care and period of absence.

The family member should understand what the practitioner or employee proposes to disclose. A diagnosis is not usually necessary for an ordinary carer's leave certificate.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner explains how health information is protected when health service providers collect and disclose it.

Use the employer's secure submission process and retain a copy of the evidence and leave request.

Practical Steps for Employees

• Check whether paid personal or carer's leave is available first.
• Confirm the person is immediate family or a household member.
• Identify the illness, injury or unexpected emergency at a general level.
• Notify the employer as soon as practicable and estimate the duration.
• Ask what reasonable evidence is required.
• Keep copies of messages, certificates and pay records.
• Discuss another leave type if the circumstances do not qualify.

Casual workers can also review Medical Certificates for Casual Employees for evidence and roster considerations.

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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 health information, caring need and relevant current dates submitted.

A request does not guarantee a carer's certificate. The practitioner may require further information, decline unsupported dates or recommend in-person assessment. Dociva does not backdate a certificate's issue date.

Dociva does not decide whether an employer must approve unpaid leave and does not certify a non-medical unexpected emergency. Workplace entitlement questions should be checked with Fair Work or a qualified adviser.

Where the request category is suitable, use the medical certificate application. Dociva also provides broader telehealth consultations when the situation requires a more detailed clinical assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)