Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to inform the Senate that, as part of the budget, we have provided support to new parents whose employment was interrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic by introducing some additional concessional paid parental leave work tests. Under the normal rules, parents are required to have worked 10 of the 13 months prior to the birth or adoption of their child to qualify for paid parental leave. What we have done is extend that period so that it's 10 of the last 20 months for births and adoptions, and this will be in effect from 22 March 2020 until 31 March 2021. This temporary change increases access to paid parental leave for approximately 12,800 families who were previously connected to the workforce but have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID pandemic and would otherwise have been able to qualify. We understand many people made the decision about family planning prior to COVID, and we want to make sure those families don't miss out.