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

Has the claimant or their partner been paid Newborn Supplement (NBS) for the child with Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A?

Note: a customer cannot have received JobKeeper Payment for the same period they are receiving PPL. For more information about processing PPL claims for customers receiving JobKeeper Payment. See Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

• Yes, the claimant cannot be paid PPL and NBS for the same child. However, they can choose to claim PPL after NBS has been paid. If they change their claim choice, the NBS and NBU already paid will be a recoverable debt. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 2

Service Officers can identify a transfer situation in the following circumstances:

Primary claimants

A primary claimant submits a claim and:

• indicates they are transferring some or all their PPL period entitlement only to a secondary claimant, or
• indicates they are giving permission for some or all of their Flexible Paid Parental Leave only to be claimed by a secondary claimant, or
• indicates they are transferring some or all of their Paid Parental Leave Period and giving permission for some or all of their Flexible Paid Parental Leave days to a secondary claimant
• subsequent to their claim assessment, they request a full or partial transfer of the Paid Parental Leave period or some or all of their Flexible Paid Parental Leave days to a secondary claimant

Secondary claimant:

• submits a claim indicating the primary claimant is transferring some or all of their PPL to them
• submits a claim indicating the primary claimant is giving them permission to claim some or all of their Flexible Paid Parental Leave days
• submits a claim indicating exceptional circumstances exist. Note: primary claimants are also able to claim in exceptional circumstances. It is essential to check if the claimant is first eligible as a primary claimant in exceptional circumstances before assessing exceptional circumstances as a secondary claimant

Tertiary claimant:

• submits a claim requesting the remaining Paid Parental Leave period and/or Flexible Paid Parental Leave days for a child where a secondary claimant already exists

Go to Step 3.

Before a secondary claimant's claim for PPL is possible, there must be an eligible primary claimant. The primary claimant must claim and be determined to be eligible before the secondary claimant's payability can be determined.

Has the primary claimant lodged a claim and are they eligible for PPL for the child?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 4

Primary claimant not yet lodged a claim

Attempt to contact the customer (secondary claimant). Tell them there may be a delay in processing their claim as the primary claimant (birth mother) must submit a claim for PPL before their claim can be assessed.

Create and send Q999 letters to both the primary and secondary claimants. The Resources page contains example texts for Q999 letters.

Place the secondary claimant's claim on 'H'old to await the primary claimant's claim. Allow extra time for mail delivery for claimants to respond after issuing the letter. For help, see Information requests for FTB and PPL claims, and Add Newborn and PPL change of circumstances activities.

To invite the customer to claim, see:

• Initial contact for an early claim for family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL)
• Claiming family assistance and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for a newborn child
• Claiming payments for children entrusted to care as part of the process of adoption or surrogacy
• Claiming payments for children leaving care as part of the process of adoption, surrogacy arrangement, or a child removed by state/territory child protection agency

If a primary claimant's claim has not been lodged within the required timeframe, the secondary claimant's claim must be manually made non-effective 'OTH'er (NEF/OTH).

Code in:

• Process Direct:
• Code NEF with reason 'OTH' on the PPL Claim Action (P1CA) screen
• Manually send a Q999 to the customer. See Resources for suggested text for NEF Q999 letter
• Customer First (only FTB/PPL combined claims):
• Code NEF with reason 'OTH' on the PPL Claim Action (P1CA) after keying ‘A’ next to the relevant claim line on the PPL Claim Summary (P1CS) screen
• Manually send a Q999 to the customer. See Resources for suggested text for the NEF Q999 letter

Claims deemed NEF because the primary claimants claim was not lodged within the required timeframe can be re-opened when the primary claim has been lodged. See Not effective, rejection or withdrawal of claim for Parental Leave Pay (PPL) for details on re-opening claim.

Procedure ends here.

Once the primary claimant has submitted their PPL claim they will indicate if they are:

• transferring some (partial transfer) or all (full transfer) of the PPL period to another person
• giving permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days. Note: Flexible PPL days are available for children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020

Has the primary claimant indicated that they are transferring some or all of the PPL period to a secondary claimant?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

For a full or partial PPL period transfer, the primary claimant must meet the 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 then meet the eligibility criteria:

• from the date they become the primary carer of the child
• to the end of the PPL period

Full PPL period transfer

For full transfer cases, the primary claimant is only required to meet limited eligibility criteria. The limited eligibility criteria includes meeting the:

• PPL work test
• PPL income test
• Australian residency requirements on the day the child was born/entrusted to care

When the transfer is:

• from the child’s date of birth, the primary claimant is not required to have primary care of the child from the transfer date and may have returned to work after primary care was transferred
• because they have returned to work, it is essential that both the primary and secondary claimants lodge their claims ‘at the same time’. The Resources page contains examples

Partial PPL period transfer

If the primary claimant is transferring the balance of their PPL period:

• the primary claimant must meet the full PPL eligibility criteria for each day of the PPL period between:
• the child’s date of birth or entry into care until
• the date they transfer primary care of the child
• the secondary claimant must also lodge an effective claim for PPL and meet the full PPL eligibility criteria for each day beginning on the date they become the primary carer of the child until the end of their PPL period

Is the primary claimant also giving permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 9

Primary claimants can give permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days.

The secondary claimant must claim PPL:

• before the child’s second birthday or anniversary of adoption, if they are also claiming some or all of the PPL period. However there are time limits for claiming the maximum PPL period
• before the child’s second birthday or anniversary of adoption, if they are claiming Flexible PPL only

Customers should be encouraged to claim as soon as possible as delaying may result in:

• missing out on their full entitlement, or
• having less choice around when they can claim Flexible PPL days

The secondary claimant will be asked:

• how many Flexible PPL days they have been granted permission to claim, and
• to choose dates for some or all of these days

Once the claim is processed and the records are linked, this will be checked against the actual number of days the primary claimant has given permission for.

The secondary claimant will tell Services Australia the dates they want to claim their Flexible PPL days. They do this:

• in their initial claim for PPL or
• at a later time online, by phone, or in person

They must do this before of the child’s second birthday or anniversary of adoption. However the secondary claimant must be advised that:

• any Flexible PPL days that they do not claim will remain in the unclaimed balance for the child until a date is claimed
• unclaimed days can be claimed by any secondary claimant that is linked to the child or permission can be removed by the primary claimant

Note: the online service to manage Flexible PPL days is not available for a secondary claimant until the claim status is ASSessed or CURrent.

For more information about managing permission and claiming Flexible PPL days, see Claiming and managing Flexible Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023.

To be eligible to get Flexible PPL on a day the customer must:

• be the primary carer of the PPL child
• not be working (they can be on paid or unpaid leave). Note: exemptions apply for work performed for permissible purpose and Keeping in Touch (KIT) days. See Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer, for a child born before 1 July 2023, returns to work
• meet Australian residence requirements
• have completed the Flexible PPL declaration

Customers cannot be paid Flexible PPL on any day that:

• they or another person are being paid PPL for the same child
• is before or during the PPL period (if they have one)
• is before the child’s date of birth/adoption
• is after the child’s second birthday/anniversary of adoption

Customers cannot nominate a date that is more than 42 days in the past, unless they:

• meet the PPL extended work test, or
• received COVID-19 Disaster Payment (paid by Services Australia on or after 3 June 2021) during their 10 month qualifying period

For more information about claiming Flexible PPL days, see Claiming and managing Flexible Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023.

Further action is required if:

• a secondary claimant has not lodged a claim
• primary/secondary claimants have lodged a pre-birth claim
• primary/secondary claimants have not provided required information and manually coding ‘NEF’ Additional information

Is further action required?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, for secondary claimant requirements, see Step 1 in Secondary claimant eligibility table

If a primary claimant indicates in their claim they want to transfer their full PPL entitlement to a secondary claimant and there is no claim for the secondary claimant, ‘H’old primary claimants claim and send Q999 to both the primary and secondary claimant. See Resources for Q999 text.

Allow extra time for mail delivery for claimants to respond after issuing the letter. For help, see Information requests for FTB and PPL claims, and Add Newborn and PPL change of circumstances activities.

If the primary claimant’s claim is not received within the required timeframe, the secondary claim must be manually made non-effective 'OTH'er (NEF/OTH).

If the secondary claimant’s claim is not received and the primary claimant is transferring the full PPL period, the primary claim must be manually made non-effective 'OTH'er (NEF/OTH).

Code in:

• Process Direct:
• Code NEF with reason 'OTH' on the PPL Claim Action (P1CA) screen
• Manually send a Q999 to the customer. See Resources for suggested text for the NEF Q999 letters
• Customer First (only FTB/PPL combined claims):
• Code NEF with the reason 'OTH' on the PPL Claim Action (P1CA) screen after keying 'A' next to the relevant line on the PPL Claim Summary (P1CS) screen
• Manually send a Q999 sent to customer. See Resources for suggested text for the NEF Q999 letters

If the secondary claimant’s claim is not received and the primary claimant is transferring a partial entitlement of the PPL period, the primary claim should still be assessed. This is the only circumstance where PPL is being transferred to a secondary claimant and the claims are not required to be lodged and assessed 'at the same time'. See Processing standalone and combined claims for family assistance and/or Paid Parental Leave scheme payments.

If the secondary claimant’s claim is not received and the primary claimant is transferring some or all of their Flexible PPL days, the primary claimant can remove permission for them to be claimed by another person. The primary claimant can do this using self service or by contacting us. See Claiming and managing Flexible Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023.

Procedure ends here.

To be a secondary claimant, a primary claimant must first be eligible. If no primary claimant is identified, a determination must be made if:

• an eligible primary claimant should be invited to claim PPL, or
• if this claimant is an eligible primary claimant themselves under exceptional circumstances

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

• be the primary carer of the PPL child
• meet the PPL work test
• meet the PPL income test
• meet Australian residence requirements

Additionally, to be eligible for:

• the PPL period, the secondary claimant must not have worked since becoming the primary carer of the child
• Flexible PPL days, for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020, the secondary claimant must not be working on the day they want to claim Flexible PPL

Exceptions to the return to work or working rule apply. Go to Step 8 for exceptions.

Is the secondary claimant:

• the partner of the primary claimant, or
• the child's legal parent (who is not the primary claimant), or their partner
• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, another person may only be eligible as a secondary claimant if exceptional circumstances are met. See Step 1 in the Exceptional circumstances and lodgement of PPL claim table

To be eligible, the secondary claimant must be the primary carer of the PPL child and have become the primary carer on the day after the primary claimant ceased to be the primary carer, unless:

• they become temporarily unable to care for the child due to circumstances beyond their control and the period is expected to be less than 26 weeks
• they would have become the primary carer but have lost care of the child:
• without legal authority, or
• care is disputed, and the claimant takes reasonable steps to have the child returned to their care. This can include periods before a claim has been made

Note: for a child who was stillborn or has died, the secondary claimant meets the primary carer rules if they would have been the primary carer had the child not been stillborn or had died.

Customers could not receive PPL for the same period they receive:

• COVID-19 Disaster Payment (paid by Services Australia on or after 3 June 2021), or
• JobKeeper Payment

There have not been any changes to the PPL rules regarding return to work for bereavement cases. A bereavement customer can return to work and continue to receive PPL, but it is the customer’s responsibility to advise their employer when their PPL period starts and ends, so the employer is aware of impacts to JobKeeper Payment.

Are primary care requirements met?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the claimant is not eligible for PPL. Procedure ends here

Secondary claimants in normal circumstances must meet the PPL work test.

The customer may be requested to provide evidence to support the PPL work test.

Does the claimant satisfy the PPL work test?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, they may still be eligible for PPL under exceptional circumstances eligibility criteria. See Step 1 in the Exceptional circumstances and lodgement of PPL claim table

Secondary claimants in normal circumstances must have an adjusted taxable income (ATI) below the relevant financial year income limit.

If the actual adjusted taxable income exceeds the income test in the financial year prior to the date of claim, a second claim may be lodged. For example, if a claimant lodged before the child's birth in the current financial year and the baby is born in a new financial year, eligibility can be tested for both financial years.

The customer may be required to provide evidence to support the PPL income test.

Note: if the customer indicates on their online claim they have other income components, for example foreign income, negatively geared investments, net rental property losses etc. then a tax notice of assessment (NOA) issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will not be sufficient as evidence. The customer will need to provide additional evidence such as their full income tax return (ITR).

For more information, see Paid Parental Leave income test and previous financial year income estimate.

Does the claimant satisfy the PPL income test?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, they may still be eligible for PPL under exceptional circumstances eligibility criteria. See Step 1 in the Exceptional circumstances and lodgement of PPL claim table

If the secondary claimant is claiming because someone has transferred some or all of their:

• PPL period, go to Step 6
• PPL period and Flexible PPL days, go to Step 7
• Flexible PPL days only, go to Step 8

The PPL period start date for a secondary claimant is determined by the primary claimant. Secondary claimants cannot nominate a start date for the PPL period.

The primary claimant must nominate the start date for the PPL period in their claim.

Partial transfer

If the primary claimant has or will transfer some of their PPL period, the secondary claimant's PPL period start date is the day after the primary claimant’s PPL period end date. There cannot be a break in the PPL period.

Full transfer

If the primary claimant is transferring all of their PPL period to the secondary claimant, the start date for the secondary claimant depends on the following factors:

The primary claimant's nominated start date (NSD):

• If proof of birth and an effective PPL claim are provided by the primary claimant's NSD, the secondary claimant’s PPL start date will be the primary claimant’s NSD
• If proof of birth and an effective PPL claim are provided after the primary claimant’s NSD but within 28 days of the birth/adoption/surrogacy, the secondary claimant’s PPL start date will be the primary claimant's NSD
• If proof of birth and an effective PPL claim are provided after the NSD and more than 28 days after the birth/adoption/surrogacy, use the later of the dates (if different) the proof/claim was received/lodged as the primary claimant’s NSD. This date will also become the secondary claimant’s PPL start date
• If the primary claimant has chosen an NSD in the future which is a later date than the proof of birth and/or claim is lodged, then the secondary claimant’s NSD is the future date

Date the child enters the secondary claimant's primary care:

• If this is on the date that would have been the primary claimant's start date, this date is the secondary claimant's start date
• If this is after the date that would have been the primary claimant's NSD, the date the secondary claimant gains primary care is the secondary claimant's start date. For example, the primary claimant’s NSD is 15 July. Transfer of care to the secondary claimant is 25 July, therefore PPL can only commence from 25 July for the secondary claimant. This would reduce the PPL period for the secondary claimant by the time between the primary claimant's NSD and the date the secondary claimant gains primary care

When processing full transfer claims where a reduction of the secondary claimant's PPL period is likely due to the primary claimant’s NSD, the Service Officer must contact the primary claimant and suggest changing the nominated start date to avoid the PPL period reduction.

Full Transfer of PPL period

Either the primary or secondary claimant must be eligible for each day from the child’s date of birth or entry into care to the PPL period start date.

If the secondary claimant is not eligible for any day from when they gain primary care until the maximum PPL period end date, their PPL period will end on the day they cease to be eligible.

Partial transfer of PPL period

The secondary claimant can receive the balance of the remaining PPL period that has been transferred to them until the end of the maximum PPL period, or until they lose eligibility before the end of this period.

If the secondary claimant loses eligibility before the end of the maximum entitlement period, their PPL period ceases on the day they lose eligibility.

The secondary claimant must be eligible for each day beginning on the date they become the primary carer (transfer date) and ending at the maximum PPL period end date.

Has the secondary claimant been given permission to claim Flexible PPL days?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

Primary claimants can give permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days. These days will then be available in the balance of unclaimed days for any secondary claimants linked to the child.

The secondary claimant must claim these days before the child’s second birthday or anniversary of adoption. Note: PPL claims that include a full or partial transfer of the PPL period must be lodged before the child’s first birthday or anniversary of adoption. There are time limits for claiming the maximum PPL period.

The primary claimant can remove this permission at any time:

• during the pre-birth phase, or
• before a secondary claimant has claimed the day

Once permission is removed, the day is returned to the primary claimant’s balance of unclaimed days.

Secondary claimant has also been transferred some or all of the PPL period

If the secondary claimant has also been transferred the full or partial PPL period, they can connect some or all of these Flexible PPL days to the PPL period. They must do this before the PPL period commences.

If the secondary claimant’s PPL period ends early, (such as due to returning to work or other change in circumstances) they can still claim Flexible PPL days after the end of the PPL period end date. If they have already claimed these days, they may be reassessed, based on the new PPL period end date.

Multiple secondary claimants

If there are multiple secondary claimants for a child (for example, the child’s other parent and partner of the birth mother), the primary claimant cannot split the number of days between them. The number of days that have been given permission will be available to claim by any of the secondary claimants.

Eligibility for Flexible PPL on a day

The eligibility requirements for primary and secondary claimants to get Flexible PPL on a day are the same.

See Claiming and managing Flexible Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023.

Is the claimant claiming PPL:

• for a stillborn child
• after the child has died, or
• after care of the child was lost without legal authority?
• Yes, go to Step 11
• No, go to Step 10

If the secondary claimant has returned to work since becoming the child's primary carer, eligibility for the PPL period ceases from the date of the return to work.

This will result in a PPL period level cancellation. The customer may still be eligible to claim Flexible PPL days after they have returned to work, provided they are not working on the day they want to be paid Flexible PPL.

Note: Flexible PPL days are not available for children born or adopted before 1 July 2020., this will result in a PPL claim level cancellation.

See Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer, for a child born before 1 July 2023, returns to work.

Exceptions

Work that is performed on a day is not considered to be a return to work or working for the purposes of PPL:

• if a child was stillborn or has died
• if care of the child was lost without legal authority
• if complying with a summons or other compulsory process to appear to give evidence, information or provide documents
• to health professionals, emergency services or essential workers who have returned to work in response to a state, territory or national emergency
• A person is an essential worker if the person has specific skills, or is involved in the production of goods or the delivery of services, where the skills, goods or services are essential in responding to an 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

The claimant must meet the Australian residence requirements.

PPL can be paid while the claimant is overseas only during a temporarily absence. PPL period eligibility will cease if the claimant is absent from Australia for 56 weeks or more or they cease to be an Australian resident. For children born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020, the customer may be eligible for Flexible PPL if they return to Australia and meet residence requirements again within 2 years of the child’s birth or adoption.

Note: the customer is required to have both:

• met the residence requirement on the child’s date of birth/adoption, and
• submitted an effective claim before the child’s first birthday/adoption

Secondary claimants claiming Flexible PPL days only have up to the day before the child’s second birthday/anniversary of adoption.

Does the claimant satisfy the residence requirements for PPL?

• Yes,
• for PPL in Exceptional Circumstances see the Exceptional circumstances and lodgement of PPL claim table
• for PPL Transfers see the Processing rules for PPL transfers table
• No, the claimant is not eligible for PPL

The primary claimant’s claim must be assessed before the secondary claimant’s claim. Failure to process the claims in this order will produce an incorrect assessment result.

If the primary claimant's claim has not been assessed or is not eligible for PPL, the secondary claimant’s post birth claim will be ‘REJected’ REJ-ACN (additional circumstances not met).

Note: in cases of adoption, ensure the secondary claimant's relationship to the child is recorded as ‘partner of adoptive parent’ in the PPL circumstance workflow.

Is the primary claimant transferring the:

• full PPL period, go to Step 2
• partial PPL period, go to Step 3
• Flexible PPL days only, go to Step 4

When a primary claimant requests a full PPL period transfer to a secondary claimant, the Service Officer must process the secondary claim immediately after processing the primary claim. This applies to both pre-birth claims and post birth claims.

Primary and secondary claimants who lodged a pre-birth claim will display a PPL claim status PPL/ASS-PCB for both claimants once finalised.

Once the proof of birth is received and post birth claim/add child has been completed on the primary claimant’s record and the NSD is:

• not a future date:
• if the child’s birth/adoption is on or after 1 July 2020, the primary claimant’s PPL period status will be REJ/TFR and their PPL claim level status will be CZR-FLX
• if the child’s birth/adoption is before 1 July 2020, the primary claimant’s PPL claim level status will be REJ/TFR
• a post birth claim can then be completed on the secondary claimant’s record, resulting in a PPL claim and PPL period level status of PPL/CUR
• in the future, the primary and secondary claimants record will finalise PPL/ASS-ASD . When the NSD is reached:
• if the child’s birth/adoption is on or after 1 July 2020, the primary claimant’s PPL period status will be REJ/TFR and their PPL claim status will be CZR-FLX
• if the child’s birth/adoption is before 1 July 2020, the primary claimant’s PPL claim status will be REJ/TFR
• the secondary claimant’s PPL claim and PPL period level status will be PPL/CUR

See Eligibility for Parental Leave Pay (PPL) as a primary claimant for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023 for more information.

If the primary claimant has also given permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days, go to Step 4.

Where the primary claimant has advised in their claim that they intend to transfer the balance of their PPL period to a secondary claimant, the primary claimant’s claim must be assessed before the secondary claimant’s claim.

Once the secondary claimant's claim is assessed, their PPL claim level status will be ASS-ASD. Then once the primary claimants end date has been reached:

• if the child’s birth/adoption is on or after 1 July 2020, the primary claimant's PPL period status will be CAN-TTP (Transfer partial PPL entitlements) from the date the primary claimant advised and their PPL claim level status will be CZR-FLX
• if the child's birth or adoption is before 1 July 2020, the PPL claim level status will be CAN-TTP (Transfer partial PPL entitlements) from the date the primary claimant advised

The secondary claimant's status will become current.

Where PPL is current and the primary claimant advises that they want to transfer the remaining PPL, see Customer notifies a change of circumstances for Parental Leave Pay (PPL).

If the secondary claimant’s claim is finalised in error before the primary claimant's status is changed, the secondary claimant's entitlement may be incorrectly assessed and incorrect payments generated.

If the primary claimant has also given permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days, go to Step 4.

Where the primary claimant has advised in their claim that they are giving permission for another person to claim some or all of their Flexible PPL days, their claim must be assessed before the secondary claimant’s claim.

The secondary claimant can only claim up to the number of Flexible PPL days that have been given permission to be claimed.

PPL claim status

The primary claimant’s PPL claim level status will be CZR-FLX until all Flexible PPL days have been claimed. Note: this includes where the primary claimant has transferred their full entitlement.

This allows the primary claimant access to remove permission given to others to claim Flexible PPL days, as long as those days have not already been claimed by a secondary claimant.

If the number of Flexible PPL days claimed by the secondary claimant is less than the number of days that have been given permission to be claimed, the additional days will be included in the unpaid days balance for all PPL claimants that are linked to the PPL child. These days can then be claimed:

• at a later time by any secondary claimant that is linked to the child’s record for days that they are eligible for Flexible PPL, or
• claimed by the primary claimant if they remove permission before another person has claimed them

Number of claimed days is more than the number provided by primary claimant

The secondary claimant can only be granted Flexible PPL days up to the number of days the primary claimant has given permission to be claimed. Any days over this number will be rejected. The days will be granted in calendar order.

For example: If a secondary claimant claims 5 Flexible PPL days on 6 to 10 November, and the primary claimant only grants permission for 3 days to be claimed, the claims for Flexible PPL days on

• 6 to 8 November will be granted
• 9 to 10 November will be rejected

The Resources page of Claiming and managing Flexible Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023 contains Flexible PPL day level rejection codes.

A person may also be eligible as a secondary claimant if:

• they expect to care for the PPL child for at least 26 weeks
• the child was not placed in their or their partner's care as a result of state or territory child protection authority legislation, and either:
• the person is the partner of the primary carer and the primary carer is not able to care for the child for at least 26 weeks, or
• the person is not the partner of the primary carer and:
• both the primary carer and their partner are not able to care for the child for at least 26 weeks, or
• it is considered that the person became the primary carer of the child in special circumstances. It would be unreasonable for the primary claimant or their partner to care for the child, and it is in the interests of the child for the person to care for the child

Are exceptional circumstances met?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, the claimant is not eligible for PPL. Check eligibility for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) including NBS/NBU. Procedure ends here

The person must also:

• satisfy Australian residence requirements
• be the primary carer of the PPL child and have become the primary carer on the day after the primary claimant ceased to be the primary carer (or is temporarily unable to care for the child due to circumstances beyond their control, or has lost care of the child without legal authority)

Additionally, to be eligible for:

• the PPL period, they must not have returned to work since becoming the primary carer of the child
• Flexible PPL days for a child born or adopted on or after 1 July 2020, they must not be working on the date they want to claim Flexible PPL

Exceptions apply

A return to work or working on a day does not apply:

• if a child was stillborn or has died
• if care of the child was lost without legal authority
• if complying with a summons or other compulsory process to appear to give evidence, information or provide documents
• to health professionals, emergency services or essential workers who have returned to work in response to a state, territory or national emergency
• A person is an essential worker if the person has specific skills, or is involved in the production of goods or the delivery of services, where the skills, goods or services are essential in responding to an 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

See Parental Leave Pay (PPL) customer, for a child born before 1 July 2023, returns to work for more information

Note: when claiming PPL as a secondary claimant under exceptional circumstances the claimant is not required to meet the PPL work test or the PPL income test.

Are these criteria met?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, the claimant is not eligible for PPL. Check eligibility for FTB including NBS/NBU. Procedure ends here.

Does the secondary claimant also meet all the PPL eligibility criteria?

• Yes, the secondary claimant may be eligible for PPL as a primary claimant. See Eligibility for Parental Leave Pay (PPL) as a primary claimant for children born or entering care before 1 July 2023
• No, process claim