30FBasic Principles

30F Basic Principles (1) Under this Division, if a child under the age of 5 years is placed with an employee for adoption, the employee and the employee’s spouse are entitled between them to unpaid adoption leave totalling 52 weeks to care for the child. (2) However, an employee’s entitlement to leave under this Division is reduced by the employee’s other adoption leave entitlements (for example, under an award, a certified agreement, an AWA, a State employment agreement or a State law). (3) To obtain adoption leave under this Division, an employee must satisfy requirements relating to the following matters: (a) length of service; (b) notice periods; (c) information and documentation. (4) Except for a period of 3 weeks at the time of the placement of the child, an employee and the employee’s spouse must take adoption leave at different times. (5) An employee may take other leave (for example, annual leave) in conjunction with adoption leave, but this will reduce the amount of adoption leave that the employee may take. (6) Adoption leave may be varied or cancelled in certain circumstances. For example, leave may be cancelled if the employee will not become, or ceases to be, the child’s primary care-giver or if there has been a mistake in calculating the amount of leave to which the employee is entitled. (7) An employee who takes adoption leave is, in most circumstances, entitled to return to the position which the employee held before the leave was taken. (8) Adoption leave does not break an employee’s continuity of service. (9) This Division establishes minimum entitlements to adoption leave and so is intended to supplement, and not to override, entitlements under other Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation and awards.