Travel outside Australia

Living outside of Australia

If you leave Australia to live in another country, you won’t be able to access any Parental Leave Pay days after you depart. You may be able to access your remaining Parental Leave Pay days at a later time if you both:

• return to live in Australia and are eligible
• claim within 2 years of your child’s birth or adoption.

Temporary travel outside Australia

If your travel is temporary, you may be able to access Parental Leave Pay days. But you must remain eligible, and you can only access days within the first 56 weeks of your absence.

You won’t be able to get Parental Leave Pay after you've been outside of Australia for more than 56 weeks. If you’re overseas for more than 6 weeks then leave Australia again within 6 weeks of returning, the 56 weeks are counted from your first departure.

You also won’t be able to get Parental Leave Pay while you’re outside Australia if you either:

• hold visa subclass 060, 070, 449 or 786
• hold visa subclass 309, 820, 790 or 785 and you’re not travelling for an approved reason.

You can only access Parental Leave Pay on days you’re providing care for your child. This means you can’t claim a day if either:

• you’re outside Australia without your child
• your child is outside Australia without you.

If you’re overseas and unable to care for your child

You can usually only access Parental Leave Pay when your child is overseas with you. However, you may be eligible for Parental Leave Pay days if you’re temporarily unable to care for your child due to circumstances beyond your control, such as when you have to travel overseas for a crisis or medical treatment.

We must be satisfied you would be caring for your child except for the temporary inability to care.