The Paid Parental Leave scheme provides financial support to eligible working parents of children born or adopted from 1 January 2011.

Eligible working parents can get up to 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave at the rate of the National Minimum Wage to take time off work to spend with their newborn baby.

Dads and their partners are also benefitting from Labor's new Dad and Partner Pay since it started on 1 January 2013, providing two weeks paid leave to spend time with the new child in their family.