Victoria
Paternity leave in VIC
If you searched this, you probably assumed the rules are set by the state. For most people in Victoria they are not. Here is what actually decides your leave, and the one case where VIC does matter.
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Private sector in Victoria: the state changes nothing
Parental leave for private sector employees is federal. The Fair Work Act sets the unpaid leave and Services Australia pays the money. A dad in Victoria gets exactly what a dad in any other state gets.
- Unpaid leave. Up to 12 months, extendable to 24 with your employer's agreement, after 12 months continuous service. Up to 130 days of it can be taken one day at a time.
- Parental Leave Pay. $200.94 a day before tax in 2026-27. 130 days for the family for babies born on or after 1 July 2026, 20 reserved for the partner.
- Notice. Tell your employer in writing at least 10 weeks before the due date.
- Reserved for the partner, 20 days
- Reserved for the birth parent, 20 days
- To share, 90 days
Where VIC does matter: if the VIC government employs you
Victorian Public Service employees covered by the VPS Enterprise Agreement 2024. Other Victorian public sector agreements (health, education, police) have their own clauses.
Partner, paid
4 weeks
Primary carer, paid
16 weeks
Plus up to
12 weeks
Instrument. Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2024, clause 62.
Qualifying period. None. There is no minimum continuous service for paid parental leave under the 2024 agreement.
The extra weeks. Up to 12 weeks Additional Paid Secondary Caregiver leave when you take over as primary carer and your partner has gone back to work, used within 78 weeks of the birth.
The catch. The headline is 4 weeks, but the 12 week Additional Paid Secondary Caregiver leave turns it into 16 if you become the primary carer later. Most dads never claim it.
- Up to 52 weeks total parental leave, paid and unpaid combined, extendable to 104 weeks.
- Pre-natal leave: up to 7.6 hours paid per pregnancy for an employee whose spouse is pregnant, to attend routine appointments (clause 62.7).
- Secondary caregiver leave can start up to one week before the expected birth.
This is paid by your employer and sits on top of Parental Leave Pay. You can usually take both, the paid weeks from the department and the government days, back to back or overlapping, within the rules of each.
What people in VIC get wrong
- Searching for state rules when their employer is a private business. The state changes nothing.
- Assuming the birth parent can take all 130 paid days. 20 are reserved for the partner and are lost if unused.
- Missing the 10 week written notice, then finding the employer can push back on the dates.
Verified 11 September 2026. Rates and day counts change every 1 July.