Parents & families

This page will help you find the information you need to understand your rights and responsibilities as a parent, carer or pregnant employee in the workplace.

Employees who are pregnant or have parental or caring responsibilities can often take leave or request to set up flexible arrangements to help balance their work and family. Parental and caring responsibilities can include looking after:

• a child who is school aged or younger
• an immediate family or household member who is sick or injured
• an immediate family or household member who needs care and support because of family or domestic violence.

Pregnancy in the workplace

Find information about pregnancy and the workplace at our Pregnant employee entitlements page.

Parental leave for Mums and Dads

Find information about applying for and taking leave after having or adopting a child on our Maternity and parental leave pages:

• Applying for parental leave 
• Taking parental leave 
• Paid parental leave 
• Keeping in touch days 
• Other leave entitlements during parental leave.

Find information about what happens when parental leave ends:

• Ending employment during parental leave 
• Extending parental leave 
• Going back to work early 
• Returning to work from parental leave.

Myth: Your employer can choose which job you come back to after parental leave

Fact: You’re entitled to come back to the job you had before you went on parental leave, even if someone else has been working in your role as a replacement.

Read more about your rights when returning to work, including information about what happens if your job doesn’t exist anymore, on the Returning to work from parental leave page.

Balancing work and family

Find information about leave and other arrangements which can help employees balance work and family responsibilities:

• Sick and carer’s leave 
• Flexibility in the workplace.

You can also use our Templates to help you apply for leave and flexible working arrangements.

Workplace issues for parents and families

Parents in the workplace can’t be disadvantaged because of their family responsibilities or pregnancy.

Find out more about:

• Protections at work (including discrimination)
• Bullying and harassment.

Visit our Help resolving workplace issues page for practical steps to take if problems arise.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency offers workshops on pay equity. Find out more about their Workshop: a practical guide to pay equity .

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