How Much Bereavement Leave Do You Get in Australia?

Detailed Explanation

One of the first practical collisions after a death is with the working week: the funeral is Thursday, you're rostered Thursday, and you have no idea what you're actually entitled to. In Australia the entitlement is called compassionate leave in the legislation, though most workplaces and awards still call it bereavement leave. The terms describe the same thing.

This page describes the Australian national system; entitlements differ substantially in other countries, and even within Australia some workers (notably state public-sector employees) are covered by state rules instead. This entitlement is defined around the death of a person: it does not extend to a pet's death; see can you get compassionate leave when a pet dies for what actually applies in that situation.

The minimum entitlement

Under the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act, an employee is entitled to 2 days of compassionate leave per occasion when:

• a member of their immediate family or household dies, or
• a member of their immediate family or household suffers a life-threatening illness or injury, or
• the employee or their current partner has a miscarriage, or a baby in their immediate family or household is stillborn. See coping with grief after a miscarriage or pregnancy loss for support alongside the leave itself.

Key mechanics:

• Paid or unpaid: full-time and part-time employees are paid at their base rate for the days; casual employees are entitled to the leave, but unpaid.
• Per occasion, no annual cap: the 2 days arise each time one of the events above happens; they aren't drawn from an accruing balance and can't "run out" across a year.
• Flexible in shape: the days can be taken as one 2-day block, two separate single days, or any other arrangement the employer agrees to, which matters when the funeral is weeks after the death.
• Notice and evidence: the employee needs to tell the employer as soon as practical (which can be after the leave has started) and can be asked for reasonable evidence, such as a death or funeral notice.

Who counts as immediate family

The NES definition is specific. It covers a spouse or de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, of the employee or of the employee's spouse or de facto partner. So a partner's parent or sibling is covered; an aunt, uncle, cousin, or close friend generally is not, unless they lived in the employee's household or a more generous award, agreement, or policy applies.

Two points families often miss:

• Household members count even when they aren't relatives. A housemate's death can attract the entitlement.
• Many awards and agreements extend the definition. Some include extended family, and some specifically recognise broader kinship relationships for First Nations employees. The NES is a floor, not the whole answer.

When two days isn't enough

Two days is, for most people, nowhere near the real shape of a bereavement, particularly when you're the one organising everything after the death. When more time is needed:

1. Check your award, agreement, or contract first. Many provide 3 or more paid days, paid leave for casuals, or extra days for travel. The legal minimum is only where the conversation starts.
2. Annual leave is the most common way people extend bereavement time, and employers commonly approve it at short notice in these circumstances.
3. Unpaid leave is always available by agreement, and many employers are far more flexible in the weeks after a death than their written policy suggests, especially if you're specific about what you need ("the funeral is interstate; I need the week").
4. Travel takes time the entitlement ignores. For interstate or overseas funerals, the 2 days rarely cover the trip. Raise the travel explicitly rather than trying to compress it.
5. If grief is affecting your health, that's a health matter, not just a leave matter. A GP can help, and personal (sick) leave may genuinely apply where grief has become an illness. How long grief lasts, and when to seek help covers the difference between hard-but-normal grief and grief that needs support.

If you're the one managing a bereaved employee

The entitlement is the floor; the reputation of the workplace is set by what happens above it. Small flexibilities (approving annual leave quickly, not demanding paperwork on day one, a genuinely open "take what you need and we'll sort the categories later") cost little and are remembered for years. The practical load on someone handling the first week after a death is heavy enough without administrative friction from work.

Things to Consider

• Your real entitlement is probably more than the minimum. Awards, enterprise agreements, contracts, and workplace policies frequently improve on the 2 days. Read yours (or ask HR or your union) before assuming.
• State public-sector and some other workers sit outside the national system. If you work for a state government, check your state's public-sector conditions. The entitlement and its name may differ.
• The days don't have to be consecutive: use that. Taking one day at the death and one for the funeral a fortnight later is a normal and permitted pattern.
• Grief doesn't finish when the leave does. Most people return to work well before they feel ready; see how do you return to work after a bereavement for what the return itself actually looks like, and coping with grief after someone dies for the wider picture. The Grief & Loss hub collects the site's full grief coverage in one place.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming casuals get nothing. Casuals are entitled to the leave, unpaid, but protected. An employer treating a casual's funeral absence as a no-show is getting the law wrong.
• Not telling the employer which relationship it was. The entitlement turns on the relationship, and partners' relatives count. An employee who says "a family member died" without mentioning it was their partner's father may be given less than they're owed.
• Burning all annual leave before checking the award. If the award provided extra paid bereavement days, using annual leave first gives away an entitlement. Check the instrument that covers you before choosing which leave to take.
• Treating the funeral date as the only leave that matters. Registering the death, meeting the funeral director, and estate tasks all consume working hours. Plan the two days (and anything extra) around the whole fortnight, not just the service itself.