Australia has no separate emergency leave. Depending on what happened, you use carer's leave (paid from your sick leave balance, or 2 unpaid days), compassionate leave (2 days), family and domestic violence leave (10 paid days) or unpaid community service leave.
"Emergency leave" is a search term rather than a legal category. In the National Employment Standards (NES) the words "unexpected emergency" turn up in one place: as a reason to take carer's leave for someone in your immediate family or household (Fair Work Act s 97(b)(ii)). The Act's dictionary in s 12 does not define the phrase. This guide matches each kind of emergency to the leave that actually applies, with the number of days, whether it is paid, and what casual employees get.
Key takeaways
- No NES entitlement is called emergency leave. An unexpected emergency affecting a family or household member is one of the reasons for carer's leave, and s 12 leaves the term undefined.
- Caring for family or household in an emergency comes out of your paid personal/carer's balance (10 days a year full-time, pro rata part-time). When it runs dry, or if you are casual, you get 2 unpaid days per occasion.
- A death, or a life-threatening illness or injury, in your immediate family or household gives 2 days of compassionate leave per occasion: paid for full-time and part-time staff, unpaid for casuals.
- Volunteering with the SES or a fire service is unpaid community service leave with no set cap, as long as the absence is reasonable. Australian Public Service staff who volunteer have 20 paid days of Emergency Response Leave a year.
- An emergency that affects only you, such as a flooded house with nobody needing care, is not covered by NES carer's leave. Annual leave, unpaid leave by agreement or an award term fill that gap.
What happened, and which leave covers it
Find the row closest to your situation. The leave in the second column is the one the Fair Work Act or the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) links to that event. Your award or enterprise agreement may give more, so check it too.
| What happened | Which leave | How much | Paid? | Casuals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your child's school or childcare shuts with no warning (flood, storm, fire) | Paid carer's leave from your personal/carer's balance (Carer's leave) | Whatever you have banked: 10 days a year full-time, 1/26 of ordinary hours part-time | Yes | 2 days unpaid carer's leave per occasion |
| A partner, child, parent or housemate is suddenly ill or injured, or hit by an unexpected emergency | Paid carer's leave | Same balance as above | Yes | 2 days unpaid per occasion |
| Same situation, but your paid balance is empty (full-time or part-time) | Unpaid carer's leave | 2 days per occasion | No | n/a |
| You are hurt or fall ill in the emergency | Paid sick leave (the same balance) | Whatever you have banked | Yes | No paid sick leave |
| An immediate family or household member has a life-threatening illness or injury | Compassionate leave (Compassionate and bereavement leave) | 2 days per occasion, usable at any time while the illness or injury lasts | Yes, base rate | Yes, unpaid |
| An immediate family or household member dies, or there is a stillbirth or a miscarriage | Compassionate leave (Miscarriage leave in Australia) | 2 days per occasion | Yes, base rate | Yes, unpaid |
| You need time off because of family and domestic violence | Paid family and domestic violence leave (Paid family and domestic violence leave) | 10 days a year, all available from day one, renewing every 12 months with no carry-over | Yes, full pay rate (penalties and loadings included) | Yes, paid for rostered hours |
| You volunteer with the SES, a rural fire service or another recognised emergency body | Community service leave (Community service and jury duty leave) | No set cap: time on the activity, reasonable travel and reasonable rest, if the absence is reasonable | No (under the NES) | Yes, unpaid |
| The disaster shuts your workplace | Not leave: a possible unpaid stand down, paid leave by invitation, or directed annual leave where the award or agreement allows it (or you are award-free and it is reasonable) | n/a | Stand down is unpaid | n/a |
| Your own home floods or you must evacuate, and nobody in your family or household needs your care | No NES leave covers it. Annual leave (cannot be unreasonably refused), unpaid leave by agreement, or an award or agreement term | n/a | Annual leave is paid | No annual leave |
| A cousin, aunt or uncle who does not live with you has an emergency | No NES carer's or compassionate leave; only what your employer agrees to | n/a | Up to your employer | Up to your employer |
The "own home" row rests on the wording of s 97 rather than an FWO statement: the emergency limb covers "an unexpected emergency affecting the member", meaning the family or household member who needs your care, not you. If your children or a housemate are caught up in the same event and need you, the carer's leave rows apply instead.
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ss 12, 22(2), 88, 97 and 104 to 107 (Compilation No. 73, 7 July 2026), ss 108 to 110 and s 524 (AustLII consolidation, retrieved 7 October 2026). Fair Work Ombudsman: Employment entitlements during natural disasters and emergencies (updated 27 July 2026); Paid sick and carer's leave (updated 10 August 2026); Unpaid carer's leave (updated 23 October 2025); Compassionate and bereavement leave (updated 7 August 2026); Family and domestic violence leave (updated 10 August 2026); Community service leave (updated 7 August 2026).
Family emergency leave: carer's leave for an unexpected emergency
Most of what people call family emergency leave is carer's leave. Section 97 lets a full-time or part-time employee take paid personal/carer's leave when someone in their immediate family or household is ill or injured, or is hit by an unexpected emergency, and needs their care or support. The hours come out of the same balance you use when you are sick yourself. That balance grows by 10 days a year for a full-time employee, and by 1/26 of ordinary hours worked in a year for a part-timer, starting from the first day of work.
Nothing in the Act says what an unexpected emergency is. Section 12 defines five terms containing the word emergency, and each one deals with emergency management or with an "emergency application". In practice the FWO's own examples are the best guide: a childcare centre closing for a while after a natural disaster, and a school shutting its doors straight after floods. The test that matters is that a family or household member is affected and needs your care or support.
"An employee may take paid personal/carer's leave if the leave is taken: ... (b) to provide care or support to a member of the employee's immediate family, or a member of the employee's household, who requires care or support because of: (i) a personal illness, or personal injury, affecting the member; or (ii) an unexpected emergency affecting the member." Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 97, Compilation No. 73 (7 July 2026).
The only "emergency" entries in s 12 are designated emergency management body, emergency application, objectionable emergency management term, recognised emergency management body and voluntary emergency management activity (AustLII, searched 7 October 2026). FWO, natural disasters fact sheet (updated 27 July 2026): an employee "may also be entitled to take sick and carer's leave to care for their child if for example their child's childcare closed temporarily due to a natural disaster or another unexpected emergency."
Who counts as family or household
Section 12 sets the circle. On your side it is your spouse, de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. Through your partner it is their child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. On top of that, anyone who lives with you counts as a household member, related or not. A cousin, aunt or uncle who lives elsewhere sits outside both groups, so time off for their emergency depends on your employer saying yes.
When the paid balance runs out, and casuals
A full-time or part-time employee with no paid personal/carer's leave left still has a fallback: 2 days of unpaid carer's leave for every fresh occasion on which a relative or housemate in that circle needs you because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency. Casuals accrue no paid sick or carer's leave, but they get the same 2 unpaid days for every occasion. The days can run together or, with agreement, be broken up, for example into 4 half days in a row. The FWO also notes that an employer cannot take negative action against an employee for taking unpaid carer's leave.
One catch applies in disasters. If your employer has stood you down without pay, you cannot switch to paid sick or carer's leave for those same days.
A death or a life-threatening illness or injury
When the emergency is that someone in your immediate family or household has a life-threatening illness or injury, or has died, compassionate leave applies. You get 2 days for each occasion, with full-time and part-time staff paid at base rate for their ordinary hours and casuals taking the days without pay. For an illness or injury, the 2 days can be taken at any point while it lasts (s 105(3)), and if the person later dies, that is a new occasion with 2 more days. The days do not come from your sick leave balance. Stillbirth and miscarriage also trigger compassionate leave; see miscarriage leave in Australia. The full rules are in the compassionate and bereavement leave guide.
Family and domestic violence: 10 paid days
A search for family emergency leave sometimes hides a different crisis. Every employee, casuals included, has 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave a year. The full 10 days are there from the first day of work, renew every 12 months and do not build up if unused. Pay is at the full pay rate: for full-time and part-time staff it covers the hours they would otherwise have worked, and for casuals the shifts on their roster. Full pay rate here means the base rate plus loadings, allowances, bonuses, overtime and penalty rates. The FWO lists uses such as arranging your own or a close relative's safety (including moving), going to court and getting help from police. See paid family and domestic violence leave for the rest.
Natural disasters: floods, bushfires and storms
The FWO's natural disasters fact sheet starts with your award or agreement, which may have its own terms for days when you cannot get to work. Where it says nothing, the NES answer turns on who the disaster has affected.
If you are hurt, or your child's school or childcare closes
An injury in a flood or bushfire is ordinary paid sick leave. A sudden closure of your child's school or childcare is the FWO's own example of carer's leave for an unexpected emergency. In that example the employee forwarded his employer the principal's email about the closure as evidence.
If your workplace closes: stand down and your leave options
When a disaster stops the business running, the employer may stand employees down without pay under s 524(1)(c), which covers "a stoppage of work for any cause for which the employer cannot reasonably be held responsible". No wages are owed for the stand down period (s 524(3)). Section 524 gives way where an enterprise agreement or employment contract has its own stand down term for the situation (s 524(2)). The FWO adds that stand down does not apply while you are on authorised paid or unpaid leave, and a stand down period still counts as service (s 22(2)).
Standing staff down is not the only route. The FWO lists alternatives: inviting employees to take accrued paid leave such as annual leave, requiring annual leave where the award or agreement allows it (or, for award and agreement-free employees, where the requirement is reasonable), and flexible arrangements like working from home.
If your own home is affected
Cleaning up a flooded house, waiting for an insurance assessor or evacuating on your own are emergencies, but they affect you rather than a family or household member who needs care. On the text of s 97 that is outside carer's leave, and no other NES leave fills the gap. Your choices are annual leave, which an employer can turn down only on reasonable grounds (s 88(2)); unpaid leave if your employer agrees; or a natural disaster clause in your award or agreement. Unpaid time generally does not count as service, which the leave without pay guide explains.
Volunteering in an emergency
Turning out for a flood or bushfire response is community service leave, not carer's leave. Under ss 108 and 109 you can be absent for a voluntary emergency management activity when you are a member of a recognised emergency management body (or have a member-like association with one), the work is about responding to an emergency or natural disaster, you take part as a volunteer, and the body asked you to (or would have, had there been time). A fire-fighting, civil defence or rescue body qualifies (s 109(3)(b)), and the FWO names the SES, the Country Fire Authority and the RSPCA for animal rescue in emergencies. Accepting an honorarium or gratuity does not stop the work being voluntary (s 109(2)(b)).
There is no cap on the number of days. The absence covers the time you spend on the activity, reasonable travel time and reasonable rest time immediately afterwards, and it must be "reasonable in all the circumstances" (s 108). Under the NES this leave is unpaid for everyone, so check your award or agreement for anything extra. Your paid sick and carer's leave keeps accruing while you are away, and the time counts as service (s 22(2)). Jury duty and the other community service rules are in community service and jury duty leave.
Australian Public Service: Emergency Response Leave
Public servants in the APS have a separate, paid entitlement. Under the APS common clause, full-time and part-time employees who belong to a recognised emergency management body can access 20 working days of paid emergency response leave a year at their full rate of pay, covering the activity, travel and recovery time. The 2019 Prime Minister's direction sets a floor of 20 working days, or 28 calendar days for roster and shift workers. An Agency Head can also grant paid miscellaneous leave depending on the scale of a disaster, and APS carers' leave can be used for someone the employee has caring responsibilities for, even outside the immediate family or household, who is affected by an unexpected emergency. The APSC notes that state and territory emergency services laws may also provide paid leave, and that the term in your agency's enterprise agreement is the one to check.
Notice and evidence in an emergency
Emergencies rarely leave time to ask first, and the law allows for that. For carer's, unpaid carer's and compassionate leave, tell your employer as soon as practicable (the Act lets this happen once the leave is under way) and say how long you expect to be away. If asked, give evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person. Skipping either step can cost you the entitlement (s 107(4)).
| Leave | Notice | Evidence that fits an emergency |
|---|---|---|
| Carer's and compassionate leave (s 107) | As soon as practicable, even after the leave starts, with the period or expected period | A school or childcare closure email, a medical certificate, a statutory declaration |
| Community service leave (s 110) | As soon as practicable, even after the absence starts, with the period or expected period | A letter from the emergency body, if your employer asks |
| Family and domestic violence leave | As soon as possible, even after the leave starts | A statutory declaration, police or court documents, or family violence support service documents |
Family and domestic violence leave carries extra protection. Your employer must take reasonable steps to keep what you tell them confidential, and may disclose it only where the law requires it or it is needed to protect someone's life, health or safety. There are also rules about what must not appear on your pay slip. If requested evidence is not provided, the leave may be unpaid.
Five worked examples
The wages below are illustrative. The leave rules are the ones set out above.
Aisha, full-time, childcare flooded. Aisha works 38 hours a week and has 50 hours of personal/carer's leave banked. Floodwater closes her daughter's childcare centre for 2 days. She takes 2 × 7.6 = 15.2 hours of paid carer's leave and has 34.8 hours left. She keeps the centre's closure email in case her employer asks for evidence.
Ben, casual, same closure. Ben has no paid balance. He takes 2 days of unpaid carer's leave for that occasion, and his employer cannot take negative action against him for it.
Dev, father in intensive care. Dev is full-time on a base rate of $32.50 an hour and 7.6-hour days. His father suffers life-threatening injuries in a car crash and is in intensive care. Compassionate leave pays 2 × 7.6 × $32.50 = $494.00, and Dev can use the days at any time while the injury lasts. If his father dies, that is a new occasion with another 2 days.
Chloe, SES volunteer. Chloe works part-time, 3 days a week, and is deployed with the SES for 5 days of flood response. She takes unpaid community service leave for her rostered days in that stretch, plus a reasonable rest day after her final night shift. Her sick and carer's leave keeps accruing throughout.
A café shut by floodwater. The owner cannot open. She may stand staff down without pay, or invite them to take accrued annual leave instead. Anyone on paid leave is not stood down for those days, and anyone stood down cannot claim paid sick or carer's leave for the same days.
For every kind of leave in one table, including the ones that are not about emergencies, see types of leave in Australia.
Emergency leave: questions
What is emergency leave in Australia?
It is not a separate entitlement. An emergency is handled through carer's leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave or community service leave, depending on what happened and who it affected. The table at the top of this guide matches each situation to its leave.
Is emergency leave paid?
It is paid when it comes from your personal/carer's balance, when it is compassionate leave for a full-time or part-time employee, and when it is family and domestic violence leave. Unpaid carer's leave and community service leave are unpaid under the NES.
How many days of emergency leave can I take?
Paid carer's leave is limited only by your balance. After that there are 2 unpaid carer's days per occasion. Compassionate leave is 2 days per occasion, family and domestic violence leave is 10 days a year, and emergency volunteering has no cap as long as the absence is reasonable.
What counts as a family emergency for carer's leave?
An unexpected emergency affecting an immediate family or household member who needs your care or support. The Act does not define the term, but the FWO's examples include a childcare centre or school closing suddenly because of a natural disaster.
Can casuals take emergency leave?
Yes. A casual can take 2 unpaid carer's days and 2 unpaid compassionate days each time one of those events happens, draws the same paid family and domestic violence leave as permanent staff, and can volunteer in an emergency on unpaid community service leave.
Can I take emergency leave during probation?
Yes. Paid personal/carer's leave starts accruing on your first day and family and domestic violence leave is available in full from day one, so being on probation does not block either. See leave during probation.
Can my employer refuse emergency leave?
Not if you meet the conditions and give the notice and evidence the Act requires. Annual leave is different: your employer can refuse a request, but not unreasonably.
Do I get leave if my house floods?
Not NES carer's leave, unless a family or household member is affected and needs your care. Otherwise use annual leave or unpaid leave, or check your award or agreement for a natural disaster clause.
Am I paid if work closes because of a bushfire or flood?
Not necessarily. Your employer may stand you down without pay if you cannot usefully be employed for a reason outside its control, or offer paid leave instead. An agreement or contract with its own stand down term overrides the Act's version.
Do I get paid leave to volunteer with the SES or RFS?
Not under the NES. It is unpaid community service leave, so any pay has to come from your award, agreement or contract. APS employees who volunteer get 20 paid days of Emergency Response Leave a year.
Author & reviewer
Sarah has spent over a decade advising Australian SMBs on Fair Work, NES compliance, and payroll. Based in Sydney, she has worked across hospitality, retail and professional services.