Staff (other than casual staff) will be entitled to paid sick leave as specified below when they are unable to attend work due to personal illness or incapacity, and do not receive workers' compensation payments in respect of the absence:

* Leave untaken in the year of accrual is added to a staff member’s entitlement on the anniversary of their appointment and remains to their credit for 12 months from that date.

If a public holiday, as defined in clause 125, falls during a period during which the staff member has taken paid personal or carer’s leave, the staff member is taken not to be on paid personal or carer’s leave on that public holiday unless they would have otherwise been required to work on that day.

No payment is made in lieu of unused sick leave on termination.

Additional paid sick leave may be approved by the Delegated Officer (Staffing) in exceptional circumstances if a staff member is seriously ill and suffering substantial hardship and has used up all of their paid sick leave entitlement.

Note: Additional provisions dealing with ill health and injury are set out in clauses 291 to 302.

A staff member (other than a casual staff member) is entitled to use up to 10 days’ of their sick leave credits in any year of service, or up to 20 days in two consecutive years of service to care for a member of their immediate family or household who is ill or incapacitated and requires care and support or who requires care due to an unexpected emergency. Additional paid leave may be approved by the Delegated Officer (Staffing) in exceptional circumstances where leave is required to care for an immediate family or household member who is seriously ill and the staff member has exhausted their paid carer’s leave entitlement.

Staff with shared responsibility for the care of a family member may not access this entitlement on the same day or days, unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances to the University's satisfaction.

To assist staff with family responsibilities, a Supervisor may agree to them:

1. taking up to two weeks annual leave in single days;
2. taking accrued time off in lieu of overtime;
3. taking unpaid leave or undertaking additional work to make up for time taken to care for a family member who is ill or incapacitated; and/or
4. entering into flexible working arrangements under clauses 121 to 124.

A staff member is entitled to paid compassionate leave in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) in the event of the death or serious illness of a member of their immediate family or household. Up to two days’ leave will be granted on each occasion that leave is required.

Subject to providing notification and medical certificates or other documentation as specified in clause 156, casual staff are entitled to not be available to attend work, or to leave work:

1. if they need to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support, or who require care due to an unexpected emergency, or the birth of a child; or
2. upon the death in Australia of an immediate family or household member.

The staff member and their Supervisor will agree on the period for which the staff member will be entitled to be unavailable to attend work. If agreement cannot be reached, the staff member will be entitled to be unavailable to attend work for up to 48 hours (i.e. two days) per occasion. No payment will be made for any period of non-attendance.

A staff member who is unable to attend work due to personal illness or carer’s responsibilities must:

1. notify their Supervisor of their intended absence and its estimated duration as early as practicable on the first day of their absence (or as soon as practicable thereafter where due to exceptional circumstances notification cannot be provided on the first day of the staff member’s absence); and
2. provide a medical certificate (or in the case of an absence due to an unexpected emergency, a statutory declaration or other documentation that is acceptable to the University):
   1. for any single period of absence of five working days or more; and
   2. if requested to do so, for any absence after taking five separate periods of sick or carer’s leave in one Year of Employment without providing a medical certificate, after being notified that they have taken five such periods of leave and that certificates are required for future absences.