Baby Priya’s Bill amends the Fair Work Act to protect employer-funded paid parental leave for parents after child loss, stillbirth, or adoption.
Baby Priya’s Bill (‘Bill’) passed parliament on 3 November 2025 after parents of 42-day old Priya endured a loss no parent should have to suffer.
Following the tragic passing of her daughter, the mother of Priya found herself in a position where her employer cancelled her pre-planned paid parental leave as a result of her daughter’s death.
Prior to the Bill being introduced, parents who experienced the stillbirth or early passing of their babies were not afforded with legal protections to utilise employer-funded paid parental leave as a time to deal with the loss of their child.
The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) will now be amended to provide employees suffering the loss of their child with this protection without needing to rely on other entitlements such as annual leave or compassionate leave. It should be noted that this applies only in circumstances where the employer already has an applicable scheme in place – this amendment does not apply to employers who do not have a paid parental leave scheme or to employees who are not eligible for paid parental leave under an employer’s paid parental leave scheme.
Employers in Australia will not be able to unilaterally cancel an employee’s entitlement of employer-funded paid parental leave in circumstances where the employee’s child is stillborn or dies, making it consistent with the legislative provisions concerning government-funded paid parental leave.
An employee’s entitlement to employer-funded paid parental leave will be preserved in the abovementioned circumstances unless any terms and conditions governing the employment relationship (by way of contract, policies, industrial instruments, etc.):
- expressly allow the employer to refuse or cancel the paid parental leave in circumstances of a stillbirth or death of an employee’s child; or
- expressly state that the entitlement is not provided to employees who have experienced the stillbirth or death of a child; or
- provide the employee with another form of leave that is expressly available in the event of the stillbirth or death of the employee’s child.
The new amendments also extend this protection to employees dealing with surrogacy and adoption arrangements and will constitute a new workplace right for the purpose of section 341 of the Act, dealing with general protection provisions.
Further, employees who have unfortunately suffered from the stillbirth or death of a child will only be able to rely on the new provisions of the Act after they are implemented (provided the death of the child occurs after the implementation of the new provisions), rather than retrospectively, with limited exceptions.
The new provisions will fall under the definition of a civil remedy provision under the Act, and any employer who is found to unlawfully breach the new provisions may be subject to civil remedy penalties.
