Maternity leave

Maternity leave enables pregnant members to take time off to recover from childbirth and care for their child when it arrives.  

You can get maternity leave if you’re pregnant.  

If you think you may be pregnant, you need to make an appointment at your local ADF Health Centre to confirm your pregnancy.

Once your pregnancy is confirmed, the ADF Health Centre will send you a notification to give to your chain of command.  

You can start maternity leave any time after 20 weeks of pregnancy.  

You’ll need to start 6 weeks before your due date, unless you have permission from your doctor to work longer.  

You get up to 52 weeks of leave, made up of:

• paid maternity leave
• unpaid maternity leave. 

You can take paid maternity leave for the first 18 weeks if you’ve completed 12 months of continuous full-time service (CFTS) in the ADF. If you take the leave at half pay, you can take 36 weeks.  

You may also take unpaid maternity leave for up to 34 weeks.  

You can replace some of your unpaid maternity leave with other types of paid leave, such as recreation leave or long service leave.

If you don’t have any paid leave available, you can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave. 

Paid maternity leave

Once you complete 12 months of CFTS, you can take maternity leave at full pay for up to 18 weeks or half pay for up to 36 weeks. 

If you haven't completed 12 months of CFTS, you won't be eligible for paid maternity leave. You can take other paid leave during your 52-week maternity leave period. 

Unpaid maternity leave

If you take paid maternity leave, you can take unpaid maternity leave or other paid leave for the remainder of the 52 weeks. 

If you aren't eligible for paid maternity leave, you can take unpaid maternity leave for up to 52 weeks. 

At the end of your maternity leave, you can take up to a further 14 weeks of unpaid parental leave. You must take it within 66 weeks of your child’s birth.

Your housing and medical benefits will continue while you’re on unpaid maternity leave. You won’t accrue long service leave for any period of unpaid maternity leave longer than 3 months, and you won’t have to stay fit and deployable.  

You can apply for maternity leave in the PMKeyS Portal or using the Application for Leave (AF088) form.  

You’ll need to provide a letter from your doctor confirming your due date.  

You need to tell Defence within 6 weeks of your pregnancy ending.  

Complete an online or paper copy of the Amendment of Personal Data Details – ADF (AD150) form to add your baby as resident family. You can download this from the Forms Portal on the Defence Protected Network (DPN). You’ll also need to provide a certified copy of your baby’s birth certificate to your supervisor. 

If your pregnancy ends in a miscarriage or termination, or your baby dies, you or someone else can advise your supervisor. 

You’ll get maternity leave if your pregnancy lasts at least 20 weeks. If your pregnancy ends before 20 weeks, you won’t get maternity leave, but you may apply for personal leave for compassionate reasons or a medical absence instead.  

If you want to return to work within 6 weeks of your child’s birth, you’ll need your doctor to confirm that you’re fit for work. 

You may be eligible to take more leave after returning to work if you've taken fewer than 52 weeks of leave.   

On this site

Have or adopt a child  

On other websites

Having a baby (Services Australia) 

On the Defence Protected Network (DPN)

Navy Women (Navy)

Handbook on Pregnancy and Support to Navy Parents (Navy)

Family Information (Army)  

Maternity Support and Working Parents (Air Force)