Your Rights: Sick Leave, Carer’s Leave & Compassionate Leave
- Permanent workers get 10 days paid sick and carer’s leave per year.
- Everyone gets 2 days compassionate leave per incident.
- Use your leave when you need it—unions fought hard to win these rights.
Why This Matters to You
When life throws you a curveball – whether you’re sick, need to look after family, or dealing with loss – you deserve time off without losing pay. These rights exist because unions fought hard to win them for workers like you.
Sick and Carer’s Leave (Personal Leave)
What is it?
Sick and carer’s leave lets you take paid time off when:
- You’re unwell – this includes physical illness, injury, stress, poor mental health, or anything else affecting your health
- You need to care for someone in your immediate family or household
- There’s a family emergency
How much leave do you get?
If you’re permanent (full-time or part-time): You get a minimum of 10 days paid leave per year. Part-timers get this amount proportional to their hours.
Your award or enterprise agreement might give you even more – check with your union to find out.
If you’re casual: Unfortunately, you get no paid sick leave. This is one of the biggest problems with casual work, and unions are fighting to change this.
Important things to know about personal leave
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- Your leave starts building up from day one – even during probation
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- Unused leave rolls over to the next year
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- You need to give as much notice as possible when taking leave
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- Your employer can ask for evidence (like a medical certificate), though some enterprise agreements limit this
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- If you’ve used all your paid leave, you can take 2 days unpaid carer’s leave for each occasion giving rise to the need to take the carer’s leave.
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- You can’t cash out this leave when you quit – so use it when you need it
Compassionate Leave (Bereavement Leave)
What is it?
Compassionate leave is there when someone in your immediate family or household:
- Dies, or
- Contracts or develops a life-threatening illness or sustains a life-threatening injury
- Where a child (who would have been a member of your immediate family or household) is stillborn or
- You or your spouse/de facto partner has a miscarriage
How much leave do you get?
Everyone (permanent and casual): You get 2 days of leave per incident. Full-time and part-time workers get paid compassionate leave. You’re paid at your base pay rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked during the leave.
The catch for casuals: Your leave is unpaid.
What counts as separate incidents?
If someone gets seriously ill and then dies later, these count as two separate incidents – so you’d get 2 days for each.
Important things to know about compassionate leave
- Give as much notice as you can
- Your employer can ask for evidence, but must be reasonable and sensitive
- This leave doesn’t accumulate – you get 2 days each time something happens
- These days don’t come out of your other leave balances
- There’s no yearly maximum
- You can’t cash out this leave when you leave your job
Know Your Rights, Use Your Leave
These entitlements are yours – don’t feel guilty about using them when you need to. They exist because unions won them for workers.
Need Help or Want to Join Your Union?
The Australian Unions Support Centre can help you:
- Find and join your union
- Get information about your workplace rights
- Answer your questions
All enquiries are 100% confidential.
Remember: Being in a union means having people in your corner who’ll fight for better conditions and help you understand your rights. The stronger unions are, the better your working life will be.
Are you already a union member?
When it comes to workplace rights, unions are the experts. Reach out to your union for more specific information about how you and your workmates can make the most about your rights at work.
Not yet a member?
Joining your union is the most powerful decision you can make to protect your rights at work.