Taking parental and adoption leave

Before you go on leave

You and your supervisor should have a meeting before you leave, to talk about:

• what will happen while you're away
• your plan for returning to work.

This discussion should include:

• how long your leave will be, according to the entitlements in the Parental Leave Procedure
• other leave entitlements you may wish to take
• interim arrangements for your position, such as handing over work to others or recruiting a replacement staff member for the leave period
• whether you want to keep in touch while you are on parental leave, and how often this should happen
• starting to plan your return to work after leave.

Prenatal leave

Under the Parental Leave Procedure you may be able to access leave to attend appointments:

• directly related to your pregnancy
• with your partner if they are pregnant.

While you are on leave

You should be the one to decide when and how you would like to stay in contact while on leave. You can discuss this with your supervisor before taking leave, noting that this plan is flexible and may change while you are on leave.

Keeping in touch with staff while on parental leave helps you to feel included and updated about your work area. It allows your supervisor to maintain contact, provide support where necessary, and start to discuss return to work plans when they you ready.

See section 13 of the Parental Leave Procedure for more information about 'keeping in touch days'.

When you return to work

To help you prepare for returning to work from parental, we have developed:

• staff - return to work guide (PDF, 429.3 KB): support services, programs, policies and networks available to staff
• supervisors - return to work guide (PDF, 396.6 KB): how supervisors can appropriately support staff who are preparing to return to work after a period of parental leave.

There are a variety of flexible working arrangements that cater for the individual needs of staff members.

Support services and facilities are available to help you transition back into the workplace after parental leave. We encourage you to use the Employee Assist Program (EAP) to access free support for a broad range of work and life issues.