New Australian parents will be entitled to more flexible paid parental leave after new changes passed federal parliament this week.

The changes combine two exisiting payments into a shared 20 week scheme, and it’s now easier for new dads to access paid leave. More changes are flagged, which will progressively increase the amount of leave up to 26 weeks by 2026.

The new changes will come into effect for parents whose babies are born or adopted from July 2023. Either parents is able to apply for paid parental leave first, and they’ll also be able to take the entitlement in multiple blocks. So if parents can take as little as one day of paid parental leave, in between working.

Single parents will have access to the full 20 weeks.

There’s also a new family income threshold of $350,000 per year, which means 3000 additional parents will become eligible for the scheme.

“Improving paid parental leave is a critical, nation-building reform. Paid Parental Leave is vital for the health and wellbeing of parents and their children,” said Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth.

“Around 180,000 Australian families take up this benefit each year and they will now be able to share their entitlement in the way that best suits their circumstances.”

In October last year, the government confirmed it wanted to expand paid parental leave from 18 to 26 weeks.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has been calling for Australian parents to have access to 52 weeks of paid parental leave.