Kiddipedia
People come and go all the time from Australia and that is why one of the tests for Paid Parental Leave relies on you being a resident of Australia. This rule is from the date of birth of your child to the end of the 18 week payment period for Parental Leave Pay and for the two weeks that you receive Dad and Partner Pay.
If you were to apply for Paid Parental Leave in the 90 days before your due date – as you are entitled to, then you don’t actually need to meet the requirement at that time, just from the date of birth or two weeks.
What is a resident for Paid Parental Leave?
- An Australian citizen
- A permanent Visa holder
- A Special Category Visa holder (generally a New Zealand citizen)
Can you leave Australia while you are receiving Paid Parental Leave?
Yes you can, but there are still rules attached to how long you can be out of Australia before your payments stop. If you have left Australia, you will not be able to access Paid Parental Leave if you have been away for more than 56 weeks as at the date of birth or start of the two weeks of Dad and Partner Pay.
Some examples;
- You are an Australian citizen but have moved overseas six months ago. You will be eligible to receive Paid Parental Leave up until the point where you have been away for 56 weeks. So if you apply for your payments to be made from the date of birth, then you should be able to receive the entire 18 weeks before you meet the point of 56 weeks overseas.
- You are an Australian citizen and you moved overseas 11 months ago. Then the 56 week point will be reached during the period of 18 weeks payment of Paid Parental Leave so the payments will cease at this point.
- You moved overseas two years ago and remain there. In this situation you will be not meet the residency test to receive Paid Parental Leave.
- You have lived overseas for five years but move back to Australia permanently one day before you give birth. You will be entitled to receive the full 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave.
The test is also very strict on returns to Australia during this time. If you have been overseas for more than 56 weeks, but made visits back to Australia that were less than 6 weeks in total, you will not be taken to have returned to Australia during the 56 weeks for the purposes of meeting the Residency Test.
As with most tests regarding Paid Parental Leave, I always suggest you map them out – in this case the dates that you have been away and any returns, to see if you meet the test or not.
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