Section 104Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)

Entitlement to compassionate leave

(1) An employee is entitled to 2 days of compassionate leave for each occasion (a permissible occasion) when:

(a) a member of the employee’s immediate family or a member of the employee’s household:

(i) contracts or develops a personal illness that poses a serious threat to his or her life; or

(ii) sustains a personal injury that poses a serious threat to his or her life; or

(iii) dies; or

(b) a child is stillborn, where the child would have been a member of the employee’s immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household, if the child had been born alive; or

(c) the employee, or the employee’s spouse or de facto partner, has a miscarriage.

(2) Paragraph (1)(c) does not apply:

(a) if the miscarriage results in a stillborn child; or

(b) to a former spouse, or former de facto partner, of the employee.

Note: For the definition of a stillborn child, see subsection 77A(2).

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 17 May 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.

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