21Personal leave

21 Personal leave

(1) A Secretary is entitled to personal leave, which may be accessed at full or half pay, to accommodate personal illness or injury, to care for a family member or to meet family responsibilities of an emergency and unscheduled nature. (2) A Secretary’s entitlement to personal leave accrues at the rate of 15 days full pay on the date of initial appointment plus a further 15 days at the end of each 12 months of service. (3) In addition to the personal leave entitlement specified in subsection (2), a Secretary’s sick leave entitlements accrued either through prior service in the Australian Public Service or in the service of a State or Territory government, or through employment in a Commonwealth authority, that in either case ceased not more than 2 months prior to being appointed a Secretary, is to be recognised as if accrued while a Secretary and is to be paid at full pay or half pay as recognised on appointment. (4) Neither unused personal leave nor unused sick leave accrued through prior service referred to in subsection (3) are to be paid out if a Secretary ceases for whatever reason to be a Secretary. (5) The Secretary’s Minister may grant additional personal leave to a Secretary at the Secretary’s Minister’s discretion.