Pregnancy and work

The importance of family and caring responsibilities is recognised, valued and supported at Flinders.

Our gender-neutral policies and support structures are designed to support staff to undertake individual family and caring needs, whilst continuing to be engaged in University life and thrive in their careers.

Please see below useful links to a range of parental supports and resources. For further information, contact People and Culture Business Partnering Team.

Special car park permits

Information for supervisors

Health and Wellbeing

Contact

Parental support

The following support structures are usually available. A staff member should discuss their needs with their supervisor.

Learn more about arranging parental leave

Prior to parental leave

Flexible employment / different / lighter duties for a period of time
Antenatal leave, annual, long-service leave
Special parking permit
Sick leave (subject to accrued entitlements) is available for any staff members who are unable to work due to personal illness.

During parental leave

Continuing/fixed term staff

Any full-time or part-time staff member who completes twelve (12) months or more of continuous service with the University before the expected date of birth or placement of a child is entitled to fifty-two (52) weeks’ parental leave. The period of parental leave will be comprised as follows:

Type	Paid Component	Unpaid Component
Primary Carer	25 weeks	27 weeks
Antenatal	8 days*	-
Adoption	25 weeks	27 weeks
Adoption (pre-placement)	-	5 days*
Partner	3 weeks at the time of birth or adoption	-
Medically defined late pregnancy miscarriage or stillbirth	8 weeks	44 weeks
Death of child during the 24-month period starting on the child's date of birth	-	Up to 52 weeks

For leave that is Primary Carer, Adoption, or Medically defined late pregnancy miscarriage or stillbirth, the paid component will be the first twenty-five (25) or eight (8) weeks of the total period of leave (as applicable).

Casual staff

Casual staff members who are eligible under section 67(2) of the Fair Work Act are entitled to Parental Leave under this clause on an unpaid basis only. All casual staff members must comply with the requirements of 33.8 with respect to working before the expected birth and resuming employment afterwards.

All staff

Keeping in touch programs

Returning from parental leave

Conversion to part-time for a negotiated period of time
Flexible working hours
Job-sharing opportunities
Working from home
Breastfeeding/lactation facilities
Negotiated breastfeeding/lactation breaks during the day
Special paid leave
Childcare on campus (you are encouraged to place your name on the waiting list as soon as possible)
Special parking permit

Parental Leave

Parental leave is covered in section 5 of the Flinders University Enterprise Agreement 2023 - 2026.

Personal, Carer's and Compassionate Leave

Personal, carer’s and compassionate leave is covered in section 5 of Flinders University Agreement 2023 – 2026.

Requests for flexible working arrangements

Requests for flexible working arrangements is covered in Part 1 of Flinders University Agreement 2023 – 2026.

View Enterprise Agreement 2023 - 2026

Keeping in touch

An employee on unpaid parental leave gets 10 keeping in touch days. This doesn't affect their unpaid parental leave entitlement.

If the employee extends their period of unpaid parental leave beyond 12 months, they can take an additional 10 days.

For further information can be found at the Fair Work website or by contacting your supervisor or People and Culture Business Partnering Team.

Fair Work website

Contact People & Culture

Breastfeeding

Flinders supports all employees who wish to combine breastfeeding (which means breastfeeding an infant or expressing breastmilk) and paid work.

This applies to all employees and may include employees returning from parental leave, new employees who may be breastfeeding, employees who may be re-lactating and pre-adoptive employees who may wish to establish a milk supply prior to their child’s placement.

Flinders is accredited with the Australian Breastfeeding Association as a breastfeeding friendly workplace.

Supporting breastfeeding employees: Checklist for managers

Learn more

Flinders supports all employees who wish to combine breastfeeding (which means breastfeeding an infant or expressing breastmilk) and paid work. This applies to all employees and may include employees returning from parental leave, new employees who may be breastfeeding, employees who may be re-lactating and pre-adoptive employees who may wish to establish a milk supply prior to their child’s placement.

Flinders recognises a mother’s need to ensure that work and breastfeeding can be combined comfortably and practically to promote ongoing benefits to the baby, mother and workplace. We strive to provide an environment which will assist employees to integrate work and life commitments.

The needs of the breastfeeding employee are minimal and short-lived, however we want to support women in their desire to maintain breastfeeding for as long as mother and baby desire. We therefore aim to provide a family-friendly workplace that enables employees to balance breastfeeding and their work responsibilities. As individual needs of the mother, carer and baby will vary, we are committed to offer flexible work arrangements that will meet the needs of the employee as well as operational requirements.

Lactation breaks are to be made available to employees to breastfeed (go to the baby or have the baby brought onto campus) or express breastmilk during work hours. The number of times women need to feed or express milk will be determined by the individual needs and age of the baby. The younger the baby, the more frequently a mother is likely to need to do so. An employee working a standard 7.35 hour day is entitled to one or more daily breaks of up to one hour per day (or on a pro rata basis).

Decisions made regarding requests for lactation breaks and flexible work options must be fair, transparent and capable of review. A written agreement between the employee and employer may be effective in this regard, and employees should notify their manager if their breastfeeding needs change or cease, so that any agreement can be amended as required.

If, due to operational needs, there is a need to delay the taking of a lactation break, efforts should be made to ensure that the employee is able to take the break as soon as possible, in order to minimise any risks to the employee’s health or milk supply or the child’s health.

Employees wishing to combine work and breastfeeding should negotiate their conditions as soon as practicable, with their supervisor – ideally this should be done prior to returning to work to minimise the impact this may have on the workplace. Supervisors should provide reasonable flexibility for lactation breaks, and employees should take both the organisational and personal needs into account, with a focus on minimising disruption in the workplace, when negotiating the timing of lactation breaks.

Support from colleagues is crucial to providing a supporting workplace environment for breastfeeding employees. All employees have a responsibility to treat colleagues who are breastfeeding with respect and dignity.

Women are welcome to breastfeed their babies wherever they feel comfortable.

Breastfeeding employees returning to work can seek flexible work options as per the Fair Work Act 2009. All flexible working arrangements are subject to operational requirements.

Available facilities

All facilities can be used by staff and students.

Rooms have fridges, or fridges located in staff common rooms throughout the campus are available for staff to store clearly labelled breastmilk in their closest staff kitchen facilities.

The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) has more information on expressing and storing breastmilk.

The rooms listed have the following:

Hand-basin and/or kitchen sink
Chair and table
Power point
Lockable door

Sturt campus

Level 2 West Wing 'Parenting Room' (Includes armchairs, sink, hand-basin and change table)

Student Hub
Level 0 near kitchen facilities

Tonsley
Level 0 next to toilets (x12297)

South Ridge Precinct
Engineering Room 312 (x19001 to obtain key)

Physical Science Building
Room 025

Note: Flinders Medical Centre has a breastfeeding room with table and chair and power point and an ensuite bathroom: Ward 4C (room 4A-210).

To access the room University staff and students need to ring the bell, located on the wall above the swipe sensor (a black box on the right-hand side of the door) and be let in by the nursing staff. They will then need to sign in the paper contact tracing form (located at the nurses’ station). This requirement is applicable to all users of the room, regardless whether they are Flinders Medical Centre staff or University – it is a requirement for anyone entering the ward who is not there for working or patient visiting purposes. You will need to ring the bell even if your Flinders Medical Centre staff card opens the doors when scanned.

Resources

For assistance with breastfeeding and returning to work or study you can also contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA).

You can also contact the Equal Opportunity and Diversity team for any other queries.

Related policies and procedures

Child care

There are two community child care centres that operate from Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre sites at Bedford Park:

Another centre operates at Science Park:

Goodstart Early Learning Science Park

Most child care centres have a waiting list for new children. Depending on when you wish to return to work, you may need to put your name on waiting lists for child care centres even before your child is born.

When considering the locations of child care centres and putting your name on waiting lists, think about whether it will be more convenient for your child to be closer to home or closer to work. It may open up more opportunities to consider all the possible options.

Once you are on waiting lists, make sure you follow up with centres on a regular basis - most centres suggest on a monthly basis.

Apart from child care centres, Family Day Care provides another option for child care. Care is provided in a person's home, and providers are qualified educators of children.

Midwifery support

Are you interested in sharing this special time with a midwifery student?

As part of their education, midwifery students follow women through their pregnancy, birth and postnatal period under the direct supervision of a registered midwife. They learn about women during pregnancy, birth and the first weeks at home with a new baby. This helps them understand more of what midwifery is about and how they can better work with women.

You will get to know the midwifery student who will offer support throughout the antenatal, birthing and postnatal experience. You are always in charge and can decide what you want to share with the student.

You can change your mind about having a student at any time. Your choices and maternity care will not be affected in any way.

A student can support you wherever you choose to birth.

Learn more about Midwifery support

Special car park permits

A short-term disability parking permit is available to pregnant staff from 30 weeks gestation onwards by visiting the Practice Nurse at Health and Counselling.

If there is a problem prior to 30 weeks that necessitates a special parking permit, written evidence from a treating medical professional is required. These permits are only valid when displayed with an annual, semester or day permit.

Further support or assistance

Your supervisor or People and Culture Business Partnering Team can offer information, support and explain various options available to suit your individual circumstance.