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Increase Personal/Carer's Leave to 20 Days
- Lisa Robey
- Jun 18
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 12
Author: Lisa Robey | Publish date: 18/06/2024
Problem Identification:
In Australia, many individuals run out of personal/carer's leave early each year due to caring responsibilities.
Section 96 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) states that for each year of employment, except for casual work, ‘an employee is entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave.’
Carers NSW has reported that many carers exhaust their sick and carers leave, often having to ‘access their annual leave to enable access to paid leave when providing care.’ They have further stated that this ‘reduces their access to annual leave to participate in rest or recreational activities as intended’. Over time, this is known to cause some individuals to reduce their hours, take leave without pay, resign, or retire early to meet ongoing caring demands. This is known to disproportionately impact women.
Context:
In this brief, a carer refers to an individual who provides unpaid, non-contractual and ongoing care to a relative or friend who is frail, has a disability, or is experiencing an illness. Individuals with caring responsibilities are known to be more likely to experience challenges with poor health, financial stress, and difficulty retaining employment, compared to those with no caring responsibilities. In 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated that 2.65 million unpaid carers provided an equivalent of $78 billion worth of caring work.
The personal/carer’s leave entitlement (also known as ‘sick leave’ or ‘personal leave’) refers to paid leave allocated for personal illness, injuries, emergencies and/or family caring responsibilities for part-time and full-time employees.
Carers NSW and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) have highlighted that the current leave entitlement ‘is inadequate in
supporting employees’ need to balance work and care responsibilities’, especially for those who care for people with complex, chronic or long-term needs. In the 2022 Carers NSW Survey, a carer shared: ‘I find using all my paid leave for caring limits me taking leave for myself and needing finances for bills and to live.’ The ANMF has also provided testimonies, including:
I nursed my father through his terminal illness. My carers leave came out of my sick leave balance. It was 9 months from his diagnosis to his death. After his death I had used every bit of leave I had - when I needed to recover from this period I had no leave.
Carers Australia highlighted that carers have almost double the likelihood of being underemployed and face worse long-term economic outcomes compared to other Australians. Further, the 2024 Carer Wellbeing Survey found that nearly 52% of working carers reported working fewer hours than desired, with almost 75% citing their caring role as a key contributing reason. The Senate Select Committee on Work and Care (SSCWC) highlighted that limited leave leads to many carers reducing their working hours, taking unpaid time off, or exiting the workforce entirely, impacting long-term financial security.
The ANMF and SSCWC have emphasised that the responsibility of unpaid care falls disproportionately on women, who are also more likely to face reduced income, superannuation, and career progression as a result.
Carers Australia, Carers Tasmania and the ANMF have called for an increase in personal/carer’s leave to 20 days per annum, as a support for individuals with caring responsibilities. Further, Carers Australia have specifically recommended that 10 of those days be non-accumulative. They have said this could support employers in retaining employees in a diminishing ageing workforce, while ensuring individuals are supported in balancing care and work. Family Friendly Workplaces has also noted that increasing carers’ leave could boost workforce participation and, in turn, raise the GDP by $30.7 billion, supporting economic productivity.
There is international precedent for increasing personal/carer’s leave in countries with similar ageing populations. For example, in Italy, personal leave and carer’s leave are separate entitlements, with carer’s leave allowing 36 paid days per year for short-term care and up to 2 years' unpaid leave for long-term care. In Denmark, carer’s leave is paid through a carer’s allowance for up to 6 months consent is negated.
Solution Identification:
Amend section 96 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to omit the word ‘10’ as part of ‘an employee is entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave’ and substitute with ‘20’.
This could help to support individuals with caring responsibilities, whilst helping to boost workforce participation.
Advice:
The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations should amend section 96 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as specified above at the next opportunity.
Public Support:
Where to go to learn more:
Carers Australia - The Caring Costs Us report provides a detailed discussion of the impacts of caring on women and the economy.
Carers’ leave could help us look after elderly parents and stay in work, by The Conversation - Read the full article here
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) - The It’s about Time (2007) report provides detailed recommendations for supporting carers in paid employment.
Australian Government - National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality: Discussion paper discusses the economic gains from having gender parity in the workforce.
Fair Work Commission - For more details about the National Employment Standards, read here
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) - Read the full Act here
Human Perspective:
When Kathy’s mum was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she stepped up as the primary carer, managing medical appointments, sudden emergencies, and daily support alongside her full-time job in local government. Within months, Kathy had exhausted her personal/carer’s leave and, soon after, her annual leave too. When she got the flu, she worked through it, unable to afford unpaid days off. Eventually, the constant juggling took a toll. She reduced her hours, passed on a promotion, and watched her super contributions shrink. She didn’t want to leave her job, but felt that she had no options left. For Kathy, the current leave allowance wasn’t just inadequate – it made it nearly impossible to sustain both her work and caring responsibilities without sacrificing her health, income and future stability. To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences, and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
N/a
Support
If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com.
Reference list:
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/disability/disability-ageing-and-carers-australia-summary-findings/latest-release
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (ADFO), & Rudd, R. (2023). Inquiry into Carer Leave. https://afdo.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AFDO-Submission-Carer-Leave-Inquiry-March-2023-1.pdf
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Senate Select Committee Work and Care, Butler, A., & Sharp, L.-A. (2022). Submission by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Senate Select Committee Work and Care. https://www.anmf.org.au/media/m0lpkxrc/anmf_submission_senate_inquiry_work_and_care.pdf
Carers Australia & Network of State and Territory Carers Associations. (2020). Carers Australia submission to Productivity Commission Carer Leave Inquiry. https://www.carersaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Carers-Australia-Submission-to-the-Productivity-Commission-Carer-Leave-Inquiry.pdf
Carers NSW. (2020) Impacts of caring. https://www.carersnsw.org.au/about-caring/impacts-of-caring
Carers Tasmania. (2022). Carers Tasmania Submission on the Australian Government Productivity Commission Carer Leave Issues Paper. https://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/345832/sub037-carer-leave.pdf
Carroll, E. (2025). New research: The quiet toll of unpaid caregiving. The CareSide. https://www.thecareside.com.au/post/unpaid-caregiving-burnout-report/
Centre for Policy on Ageing. (2016). Foresight Future of an Ageing Population - International Case Studies: Carers leave in Italy. http://www.cpa.org.uk/information/reviews/CPA-International-Case-Study-10-Carers-leave-in-Italy.pdf
Deloitte Australia. (2021). The value of informal care in 2020. https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/services/economics/perspectives/value-of-informal-care-2020.html
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2023). National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality discussion paper. https://genderequality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-02/national-strategy-gender-equality-discussion-paper_0.pdf
Docker, M. & Carers NSW. (2022). Carers NSW Submission: Carer leave issues paper. In Productivity Commission, Productivity Commission. https://www.carersnsw.org.au/uploads/main/Files/3.Resources/Policy-Research/Carers-NSW-submission-Carer-leave-submission.pdf
Fair Work Ombudsman. (n.d.). Paid sick and carer’s leave. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/sick-and-carers-leave/paid-sick-and-carers-leave
Federal Register of Legislation. (2021). Fair Work Act 2009. https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2009A00028/latest/text
Hoyer, S., Reich, N. (September, 2016). Leave and financial support for family caregivers in EU member states report. In Observatory for Sociopolitical Developments in Europe. https://beobachtungsstelle-gesellschaftspolitik.de/f/04d661be68.pdf
Mylek, M., Schirmer, J., WellRes Unit, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Carers Australia, Australian Research Council, & Department of Social Services. (2024).Caring for others and yourself: Carer Wellbeing Survey 2024 report. In Carers Australia. https://www.carersaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Final-CWS-2024-Report-compressed.pdf
Queensland Government. (2025). Who is a carer? https://www.qld.gov.au/community/support-for-carers/carer
The Senate Select Committee of Work and Care (2022). Interim Report. Parliament of Australia. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportsen/024963/toc_pdf/InterimReport.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf
The Senate Select Committee of Work and Care (2023). Final Report. Parliament of Australia. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportsen/024994/toc_pdf/FinalReport.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf
Walsh, E. (n.d.). The Carer Crisis: Why Australia’s aging population requires employer action - Family Friendly Workplaces. Family Friendly Workplaces. https://familyfriendlyworkplaces.com.au/the-carer-crisis-why-australias-aging-population-requires-employer-action
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