Eligibility for Parental Leave Pay (PPL) as a secondary or tertiary claimant for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023 007-09020020

A primary claimant can:

• transfer some or all of their PPL period to another person
• give permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days. Note: flexible PPL days are available for children that are born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020

For this person to be eligible as a secondary claimant they must be eligible for PPL and have primary care of the child for the component that they are claiming.

A primary claimant must lodge a claim and be assessed as an eligible primary claimant before a secondary claim can be made payable. The primary claimant will be the birth mother of a newborn child or the initial primary carer of an adopted child, unless exceptional circumstances are met.

A secondary claimant may be:

• the partner of the primary claimant
• the child's legal parent (if not the primary claimant) or their partner
• another person (only if exceptional circumstances are met)

For a person to receive PPL as a secondary claimant:

• the primary claimant must lodge a claim and be eligible to receive PPL
• the secondary claimant needs to lodge a claim and meet PPL eligibility criteria, and
• to be eligible for a:
• full or partial transfer of the PPL period, either the primary or secondary claimant must be eligible for each day of the PPL period
• Flexible PPL day, the secondary claimant must claim and be eligible for PPL for the child on each Flexible PPL day

The eligibility criteria for a secondary claimant in normal circumstances require the person to:

• make an effective claim for PPL
• be the primary carer of the Parental Leave Pay (PPL) child (since the primary claimant ceased being the primary carer of the child)
• have a child born or entered care before 1 July 2023
• meet the PPL work test
• meet the PPL income test. For the PPL income test threshold, see Paid Parental Leave - income limits
• meet Australian residence requirements

Additionally, the secondary claimant must:

• not have returned to work since becoming the primary carer of the child, to be eligible for the PPL period
• not be working on days that they want to claim Flexible PPL

Exception: the return to work or working rule does not apply:

• if a child was stillborn or has died
• if care of the child is lost without legal authority
• if complying with a summons or other compulsory process to appear to give evidence, information or produce documents
• to health professionals, emergency services or essential workers who have returned to work in response to a state, territory or national emergency
• to defence force members or law enforcement officers who are compulsorily recalled to duty
• if the newborn child is remaining in hospital following the birth, if it occurs within the period that starts on the day the child is born and ends on the day the child is discharged from hospital

If the above eligibility criteria are not met, the person may still be eligible under exceptional circumstances for PPL criteria.

Generally, only one transfer of payment will be allowed and a person may not receive an amount of PPL not used by a secondary claimant. However, it is possible for a second transfer to occur in exceptional circumstances.

The References page contains eligibility criteria for tertiary claimants.

Primary claimants transferring part (but not all) of their PPL period to a secondary claimant must meet the full PPL eligibility criteria before the secondary claimant’s application can be assessed, and before the balance of the primary claimant’s payment can be transferred. This ensures the secondary claimant's entitlement is correctly assessed once their PPL period commences.

The secondary claimant must satisfy the full PPL eligibility criteria for each day from the date primary care is transferred to them until the end of the PPL period.

If the primary claimant is transferring their full PPL period to a secondary claimant, the primary claimant's claim must be assessed before the secondary claimant’s claim. This ensures the secondary claimant's entitlement is assessed correctly once the PPL period starts.

If a primary claimant is transferring their full PPL period to a secondary claimant from:

• the date the child is born (or enters care), the primary claimant only needs to meet limited PPL eligibility criteria before their application is assessed. The secondary claimant must meet the full eligibility criteria for each day of the PPL period
• a date after the child is born (or enters care), the primary claimant must meet the full PPL eligibility criteria for each day from the date the child is born (or enters care) until the day before primary care is transferred to the secondary claimant. The secondary claimant must satisfy the full PPL eligibility criteria for each day from the date primary care is transferred to them until the end of the PPL period

In full PPL period transfer cases only, where the birth mother has returned to work before submitting the PPL claim, it is essential the secondary claimant submits their claim for PPL at the same time as the primary claimant before the primary claimant's claim is assessed.

If the secondary claimant's record is not linked to or is in a different Centrelink system environment to that of the primary carer, a workaround for PPL secondary claimants may be required.

Flexible PPL days are available for children that are born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020.

The primary claimant can choose to grant permission for another person (secondary claimant) to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days.

The secondary claimant is required to claim these days. Claims for Flexible PPL can be lodged up to 2 years after the child’s birth or adoption. However:

• PPL claims that include a full or partial transfer of the PPL period must be lodged within one year of the child’s birth or adoption and there are time limits for claiming the maximum PPL period
• the primary claimant can remove permission:
• at any time during the pre-birth phase (pre-birth claims only)
• before a secondary claimant has claimed the day

Multiple secondary claimants can be linked to a child for the purposes of claiming Flexible PPL days only.

Claimants are encouraged to lodge an early claim for family assistance and PPL and it is important they are aware of the time limits for claiming the maximum PPL period.

To be eligible for a full or partial transfer of the PPL period, the claim must be lodged and is only payable for days before the:

• child's first birthday, or
• first anniversary of the day:
• the child becomes entrusted to the claimant's care
• the child enters care for a surrogacy arrangement

All claimants applying for PPL must submit their claims before the child’s first birthday or anniversary of the day the child was entrusted to the primary claimants care.

To be eligible for permission to claim Flexible PPL days, the claim must be lodged and is only payable for days before the:

• child’s second birthday, or
• second anniversary of the day:
• the child becomes entrusted to the claimant’s care
• the child enters care for a surrogacy arrangement

Secondary claimants may lodge their claim after returning to work and still be assessed for payment from the first day of their PPL period to the day they returned to work. Secondary claimants may also be eligible for any Flexible PPL days claimed after a return to work provided they are not working on that day. See Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer, for a child born before 1 July 2023, returns to work for more detail.

A secondary/tertiary claimant may not nominate a start date for the PPL period. The start date is the day after the last day the primary claimant received payments for the child or the primary claimant's PPL period start date if the full PPL period is being transferred.

The secondary/tertiary claimant's PPL will automatically trigger from the relevant start date if the primary claimant has already provided proof of birth and advised of the change in primary care and the secondary claimant has been assessed as eligible.

PPL is taxable income and is included in a claimant's adjusted taxable income for family assistance payments.

• PPL is treated as ordinary income for calculating the rate of payment for income support payments
• PPL customers (and/or their partner) cannot receive Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part B during the PPL period and Flexible PPL days

Customers cannot receive JobKeeper Payment or COVID-19 Disaster Payment (paid by Services Australia on or after 3 June 2021) for the same period they receive PPL.