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Dad and Partner Pay

Dad and Partner Pay is gone. You get more now.

Lots of dads still search for it, and lots of old articles still describe it. Here is what happened, and what you get instead.

The short answer

Dad and Partner Pay merged into Parental Leave Pay for babies born from 1 July 2023, and claims closed on 30 June 2024. Instead of 2 weeks, partners now have 20 days reserved for them, plus a share of the rest.

What Dad and Partner Pay was

A separate government payment for fathers and partners: up to 2 weeks at the national minimum wage, for a baby born or adopted before 1 July 2023. The birth parent claimed Parental Leave Pay, the partner claimed Dad and Partner Pay, and the two did not mix.

What replaced it

One payment for both parents. Parental Leave Pay is now a single family pool of days, and some of those days are locked to each parent. The pool has grown every year since the merger:

Baby born or adoptedFamily daysReserved for the partner
1 July 2024 to 30 June 202511010
1 July 2025 to 30 June 202612015
on or after 1 July 202613020

Every day pays $200.94 before tax in 2026-27. The reserved days work like the old Dad and Partner Pay: if you do not claim them, the family loses them. The difference is that you can also take more of the shared days if your family decides you should.

What to do now

Claim Parental Leave Pay yourself, in your own name, for your reserved days. See how the days split in the split planner, or map both parents' leave on the leave planner.

Verified 26 September 2026. This is general information based on published government rules, not legal advice. Your enterprise agreement or contract may give you more.