The aims of this Clause are to enhance further the ability of University employees to balance their work and non-work commitments, and to attract and retain female employees.

Parental leave is leave associated with the birth or adoption of a child.

For the purposes of this clause, “eligible casual employee” means a casual employee employed by the University on a regular and systematic basis for several periods of employment or on a regular and systematic basis for an ongoing period of employment during a period of at least 12 months, who has, but for the pregnancy or the decision to adopt, a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment.

54.4 Partner Leave
The provisions of this clause apply to full-time, part-time and eligible casual employees but do not apply to other casual employees.

An employee will be entitled to partner leave as follows:

54.4.1 Where the partner (who is an employee) is not the primary care-giver of the child, she or he will be entitled to ten working days paid partner leave, or five working days unpaid partner leave in the case of an eligible casual employee, to be taken during the period three months prior to and three months after the birth or placement of the child. For fractional or part-time employees, the paid portion of the leave will be paid at the appropriate fractional rate of pay.

54.4.2 Where the partner (who is an employee) is the primary care-giver of the child, she or he will be entitled to leave in accordance with sub-clause 54.4.1 above, and a further unbroken period of fifty weeks unpaid leave, or fifty-one weeks unpaid leave in the case of an eligible casual employee. This entitlement shall be reduced by any period of maternity or adoption leave taken by the other partner and shall not be taken at the same time as that maternity or adoption leave, except during the three weeks following the birth or placement of the child.

54.4.3 In addition to the periods of partner leave referred to in sub-clause 54.4.2 above, a partner who is an employee (other than a casual employee) may apply to their supervisor for additional unpaid partner leave. Subject to operational requirements, an additional period of up to twelve months unpaid leave will be granted.

54.6 General Conditions of Leave
54.6.1 Unless it is impracticable, an employee will provide their supervisor with at least ten weeks’ notice of the intention to take parental leave and at least four weeks’ notice of the date on which the parental leave will commence.

54.6.2 An employee who has taken maternity leave will not be eligible for partner leave in respect of the same child.

54.6.3 Adoption leave may be taken by either parent, except that where both parents are employed by the University, one employee’s paid adoption leave entitlement will be reduced by any period of paid adoption leave taken by the employee’s partner (including same-sex partner).

54.6.4 Appropriate certification relating to the birth or adoption of the child and, where appropriate, the employee’s legal responsibility must be produced if required by the University.

54.6.5 The University may direct an employee to commence maternity leave at any time within six weeks before the expected date of birth, provided that:

1. written notice of such a direction of at least fourteen working days shall be given to the employee;
2. the employee shall be entitled to remain on duty upon the submission of a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that she is fit to work.

54.7 Fixed-term Appointments
54.7.1 An employee employed on a fixed-term contract of employment will cease to have an entitlement to parental leave upon the expiration of the contract, except as provided for in sub-clauses 54.7.2 and 54.7.3 below.

54.7.2 An employee employed on a fixed-term contract of employment whose contract expires when she is at least twenty weeks pregnant, and whose employment is not continued beyond the expiry date of the contract, will be entitled to payment of the fourteen week paid maternity leave entitlement subject to fulfilling any eligibility requirements unless:

1. she was offered and refused another contract of employment (on grounds other than pregnancy) broadly comparable to her existing position; or
2. a significant majority of the duties and responsibilities of the existing position are no longer being performed.

54.7.3 An employee employed on a fixed-term contract who is on maternity leave at the expiry of the contract and who is subsequently employed on a further employment contract for the same position after a gap in time, not being longer than twelve months from the date of taking maternity leave, will be entitled to the fourteen week paid maternity leave entitlement subject to fulfilling the eligibility requirements set out in this Clause.

54.8 Continuity of Service and Other Conditions of Employment
54.8.1 Absence on parental leave will not break continuity of service with the University.

54.8.2 Absence on paid parental leave will count as service for all purposes. Annual and longservice leave will accrue during periods of paid parental leave at the rate salary is earned.

54.8.3 Incremental progression will continue during periods of paid parental leave and will not be affected by periods of unpaid parental leave where that leave is for periods of less than six months.

54.8.4 Absence on unpaid parental leave will not count as service for the purposes of:

1. long-service leave unless the employee has completed ten years service with the University and the period of unpaid parental leave taken is less than 6 months; or
2. annual leave.

54.8.5 An employee may elect to cover any of the period of unpaid parental leave by taking accrued annual leave and/or long-service leave.

54.9 Unplanned Cessation of Parental Leave
54.9.1 If parental leave has commenced, or has been approved but not commenced, and:

1. in the case of maternity leave, the pregnancy of the employee terminates other than by the birth of a living child, or the employee’s child dies during the period that the employee is on leave; or
2. in the case of adoption leave, the child dies during the period that the employee is on leave;

the employee will be entitled to a maximum of fourteen weeks paid leave from the date or expected date of birth or placement of the child and to other unpaid leave as will bring the aggregate leave to a continuous period not exceeding six calendar months or to such longer periods as may be certified by a medical practitioner up to a maximum of twelve months.

54.9.2 A medical certificate will be required to support any period of leave pursuant to sub-clause 54.9.1 above.

54.10 Resumption of duty
54.10.1 An employee shall confirm his/her intention to return to work by providing written notice to the relevant supervisor of not less than eight weeks prior to the expiration of the period of parental leave.

54.10.2 One of the benefits of providing effective leave around maternity and child rearing is to encourage employees to return to work in normal circumstances. Good practice industrial principles should apply, including guaranteeing that employees can return to their existing position and level or alternative position and level with no disadvantage after embarking on parental leave.

54.10.3 Where the employee’s parental leave absence is twelve months or less, the employee is entitled to return to the position held immediately before taking parental leave. If that position no longer exists, or if the employee is returning to work after an absence of more than twelve months, the University shall endeavour to employ her/him in a position commensurate with the classification and duties for which he/she is qualified, provided that the position is at the substantive grade held prior to commencement of parental leave. If this is not feasible, it may be necessary to implement redundancy provisions as outlined in this Agreement.

54.10.4 An employee on parental leave will be consulted concerning any significant change in responsibilities of the position she or he held before commencing parental leave. 54.10.5 An employee returning to duty after working a reduced time fraction because of the pregnancy shall be returned to the position and time fraction held immediately prior to working part-time. Where it is not feasible to return the employee to the same position, the employee shall be placed in a position as nearly comparable to that of the former position.

54.10.6 Employees may negotiate return to work from a period of parental leave earlier than the date originally approved.

54.10.7 An employer must not fail to re-engage a casual employee because:

1. the employee or employee's spouse is pregnant; or
2. the employee is or has been immediately absent on parental leave.

54.11 Return to Work on a Part-Time Basis Following Parental Leave
54.11.1 The University is committed to family-friendly work practices and will give due consideration to assisting employees to balance work and family needs subject to the requirements of the work unit.

54.11.2 A full-time employee may apply to return to work from a period of parental leave on a parttime basis until the child reaches school age, to assist the employee in reconciling work and family responsibilities.

54.11.3 An application to return to work on a part-time basis must be made at least eight weeks prior to the completion of the parental leave.

54.11.4 If it is not practicable for an employee to resume work on a part-time basis in the position which s/he held prior to taking parental leave, the employee will be so advised and provided with justifiable reasons as to why the request cannot be complied with. However, if in such circumstances the University identifies a suitable vacant position in which the employee may be placed on a part-time basis, and the employee agrees, the employee will be placed in the alternate position and be paid the appropriate proportion of the salary applicable to that position for the period of part-time employment.

54.11.5 Where a period of part-time employment and a period of parental leave are for a total period of twelve months or less, the employee is entitled to return to the position held immediately before taking parental leave. If that position no longer exists, or if the total of part-time employment and parental leave is more than twelve months, the employee will return to a position commensurate with the classification and duties for which he/she is qualified, provided that the position is at the substantive grade and same time-fraction held prior to commencement of parental leave. If this is not feasible, it may be necessary to implement redundancy provisions as outlined in this Agreement.