Personal Leave in Australia: Sick Leave, Carer's Leave, and What Employers Owe

Personal leave is the second-largest statutory leave entitlement in Australia after annual leave, yet it is one of the most commonly mismanaged. Between the evidence requirements, the distinction between sick leave and carer’s leave, the rules around casual employees, and the interaction with compassionate leave and family violence leave, there is more nuance here than most employers realise.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, the correct term is “personal/carer’s leave” — not sick leave. That naming reflects the fact that the same pool of leave covers two distinct purposes: time off when an employee is personally unfit for work, and time off to care for a family or household member. This guide covers every aspect of personal leave that Australian employers need to understand in 2026, including entitlements, evidence rules, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave, and the compliance mistakes that most commonly trigger Fair Work investigations.

Personal/Carer’s Leave: The Basics

The National Employment Standards (NES), set out in Part 2-2 of the Fair Work Act 2009, establish the minimum entitlement for personal/carer’s leave. These standards apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system, regardless of what any Modern Award, enterprise agreement, or employment contract says — though those instruments can provide more generous entitlements, they cannot provide less.

The Core Entitlement

Full-time employees are entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave per year of service. For a standard 38-hour working week, that equates to 76 hours per year. Part-time employees receive the same entitlement on a pro-rata basis, calculated according to their ordinary hours of work. For example, a part-time employee working 20 hours per week is entitled to 10 days at 4 hours per day — a total of 40 hours per year.

Progressive Accrual and Accumulation

Personal leave accrues progressively from the first day of employment, in the same way that annual leave does. It does not accrue as a lump sum on an anniversary date. An employee who has worked for six months has accrued exactly half their annual entitlement.

Critically, personal leave accumulates year on year with no cap. Unlike New Zealand’s sick leave entitlement, which is capped at 20 days of accumulated unused leave, Australian personal leave has no statutory ceiling. An employee who has worked for 10 years and rarely taken personal leave could have well over 80 days on the books. This accumulated balance remains available to the employee for as long as they are employed.

Personal leave cannot be cashed out under the NES unless a Modern Award or enterprise agreement specifically permits it, and even then, strict conditions apply — the employee must have at least 15 days remaining after the cash-out, and the arrangement must be agreed to in writing each time.

Casual Employees

Casual employees are not entitled to paid personal/carer’s leave under the NES. Instead, casual employees are entitled to 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion when they need to provide care or support to an immediate family or household member. They are also entitled to 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave per occasion. These are the only personal-leave-adjacent entitlements available to casuals — and they are unpaid.

If a casual employee converts to permanent employment under the Fair Work Act’s casual conversion provisions, their personal leave entitlement begins accruing from the date of conversion.

When Can Employees Use Personal Leave?

The 10 days of personal/carer’s leave serve two distinct purposes, but they draw from a single pool. Employees do not receive 10 days for sick leave plus 10 days for carer’s leave — it is 10 days total, used for either purpose.

Sick Leave

An employee may take paid personal leave when they are unfit for work because of a personal illness or injury. The illness or injury does not need to be severe or require hospitalisation. Common colds, migraines, mental health conditions, chronic illness flare-ups, and recovery from medical procedures all qualify. The key test is whether the employee is genuinely not fit to perform their normal duties.

Carer’s Leave

An employee may take paid personal leave to provide care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who requires care or support because of a personal illness, personal injury, or an unexpected emergency.

The Fair Work Act defines “immediate family” broadly. It includes the employee’s:

• Spouse or de facto partner (including same-sex partners)
• Child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling
• Child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the employee’s spouse or de facto partner (in-law and step-relationships)

A “household member” is any person who lives in the same household as the employee, regardless of whether they are related. This means an employee could take carer’s leave to look after a housemate who has been injured in an accident, provided that person genuinely lives in the same household.

Unexpected Emergency

Carer’s leave is not limited to illness and injury. It also covers unexpected emergencies affecting an immediate family or household member. The Fair Work Act does not define “unexpected emergency” exhaustively, but it would include situations such as a child’s school calling to say the child has been involved in an incident, a family member’s home being damaged by a natural disaster, or a dependent being involved in a car accident.

Evidence Requirements

This is one of the areas that causes the most confusion — and the most disputes — for Australian employers.

What the NES Says

Under section 107 of the Fair Work Act, an employer may require an employee who has taken personal/carer’s leave to provide evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that the leave was taken for a genuine reason. The most common forms of acceptable evidence are a medical certificate from a registered health practitioner or a statutory declaration.

No Automatic Threshold

Unlike New Zealand, where employers can only require evidence after three or more consecutive days of absence, the NES does not set a specific threshold for when evidence can be required. In theory, an employer can require evidence for a single day’s absence. However, many employers set their own threshold in workplace policies — for example, requiring a medical certificate only for absences of two or more consecutive days, or when a pattern of absence has been identified.

Limits on What Employers Can Require

There are important limits. An employer cannot require an employee to disclose a specific diagnosis. A medical certificate that confirms the employee was unfit for work on the relevant date is sufficient. Requiring employees to disclose the nature of their illness — particularly for sensitive conditions such as mental health issues, reproductive health matters, or chronic conditions — risks breaching workplace privacy obligations and could be found to be unreasonable.

Evidence requirements that are unreasonably burdensome can be challenged. For example, requiring an employee to obtain a medical certificate for every single day of absence, including minor illnesses, where there is no pattern of concern, could be found to be unreasonable. The test is always what would satisfy a reasonable person in the circumstances.

Compassionate Leave: A Separate Entitlement

Compassionate leave is often confused with personal leave, but it is a completely separate entitlement under the NES. It does not come from the personal leave balance, and it does not reduce the employee’s 10 days of personal/carer’s leave.

The Entitlement

All employees, including casuals, are entitled to 2 days of compassionate leave per occasion. For permanent employees (full-time and part-time), this leave is paid. For casual employees, it is unpaid.

Qualifying Occasions

Compassionate leave is triggered when:

• A member of the employee’s immediate family or household sustains a life-threatening illness or injury
• A member of the employee’s immediate family or household dies
• A baby is stillborn where the employee or the employee’s spouse or de facto partner would have been the parent
• The employee or the employee’s spouse or de facto partner has a miscarriage

The definition of “immediate family” is the same broad definition that applies to carer’s leave.

How It Works in Practice

Compassionate leave does not accumulate. There is no annual balance or cap — employees receive 2 days per qualifying occasion, whenever such an occasion arises. The 2 days need not be taken consecutively; an employee might take one day for the initial emergency and the second day for a funeral the following week.

Employers can require evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person that the leave was taken for a genuine compassionate reason, but sensitivity is essential. Requiring a death certificate before approving leave for a funeral, for example, would generally be considered unreasonable given the timing.

Family and Domestic Violence Leave

Since 1 February 2023, all employees in the national workplace relations system — including casuals, part-time employees, and those on probation — are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave per year. This entitlement was introduced by the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2022 and is entirely separate from personal leave.

Key Features

• 10 days per year, available in full from the first day of employment (it does not accrue progressively)
• Available to all employees including casuals — one of the very few paid leave entitlements that extends to casual workers
• Does not accumulate from year to year — unused days do not carry over
• The 12-month period resets on the employee’s work anniversary, not the calendar year
• Does not reduce personal leave, annual leave, or any other entitlement

What It Can Be Used For

An employee can take family and domestic violence leave to deal with the impact of family and domestic violence, including:

• Attending legal proceedings, such as court hearings or obtaining intervention orders
• Accessing police services
• Attending counselling or medical appointments
• Safety planning, such as arranging alternative accommodation or relocating
• Any other activity that is related to the employee experiencing family and domestic violence

Strict Confidentiality Obligations

Employers have heightened confidentiality obligations around family and domestic violence leave. The Fair Work Act requires that:

• Employers must take reasonable steps to keep information about an employee’s family and domestic violence leave confidential
• Pay slips must not include any reference to family and domestic violence leave — this is a deliberate legislative protection to prevent financial abuse or retaliation
• Information about this leave type should be stored separately from general leave records where possible, and access should be restricted to only those staff members who genuinely need it

Breaching these confidentiality obligations can result in civil penalties under the Fair Work Act.

Common Employer Mistakes

Based on Fair Work Ombudsman enforcement actions and common queries, these are the mistakes Australian employers make most frequently with personal leave and related entitlements.

1. Requiring Casuals to Use Paid Personal Leave

Casual employees are not entitled to paid personal leave. Deducting personal leave from a casual employee’s pay, or recording paid personal leave against a casual employee, is incorrect. Casuals receive their compensation for the absence of paid leave through their casual loading.

2. Excluding De Facto and Same-Sex Partners From Carer’s Leave

The Fair Work Act’s definition of “immediate family” explicitly includes de facto partners, which encompasses same-sex partners. Refusing carer’s leave because the employee’s partner is not a legally married spouse is a breach of the NES and may also constitute unlawful discrimination.

3. Unreasonably Burdensome Evidence Requirements

While employers can require evidence for personal leave, the requirements must be reasonable. Requiring a medical certificate for every single-day absence, demanding a specific diagnosis, or requiring employees to attend a company-nominated doctor rather than their own GP can all be found to be unreasonable.

4. Not Accruing Personal Leave During Paid Leave

Personal leave continues to accrue during periods of paid leave, including annual leave, personal leave itself, and long service leave. Failing to accrue personal leave during these periods results in an underpayment of the employee’s entitlement.

5. Treating Compassionate Leave as Personal Leave

Compassionate leave is a separate entitlement. Deducting compassionate leave from an employee’s personal leave balance is incorrect and results in the employee losing personal leave days they are entitled to retain.

6. Failing to Protect Confidentiality of Family Violence Leave

Recording family and domestic violence leave on pay slips, discussing an employee’s family violence leave with colleagues, or failing to restrict access to related records can breach the Fair Work Act’s confidentiality provisions and expose the employer to civil penalties.

How Leave Balance Helps

Managing personal leave, compassionate leave, and family and domestic violence leave across different employee types — full-time, part-time, and casual — with different accrual rules, evidence requirements, and confidentiality obligations is genuinely difficult to do manually. Spreadsheets do not enforce business rules, and payroll systems often lack the granularity needed for compliant leave administration.

Leave Balance is built to handle this complexity:

• Separate tracking for personal/carer’s leave, compassionate leave, and family and domestic violence leave — each with its own balance, accrual rules, and reporting
• Configurable accrual rules that reflect the NES progressive accrual model, including continued accrual during periods of paid leave
• Configurable evidence requirements that can be set per leave type and per absence duration, ensuring your policy is applied consistently
• Confidential leave types for sensitive entitlements like family and domestic violence leave, with restricted visibility and no exposure on standard reports
• Slack and Microsoft Teams integration so employees can submit leave requests and managers can approve them without leaving the tools they already use
• Unlimited employees for AUD $29/month — no per-seat pricing, no hidden fees

Whether you have 5 employees or 500, Leave Balance gives you the structure to stay compliant with the NES without the overhead of enterprise HR software.