Before the birth
There are various payments available to help with the cost of having a baby. Some of them can be claimed 3 months before the baby is due.
- Parental Leave Pay
- Dad and Partner Pay
- Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
- Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement
- Medicare Safety Nets
Centrelink provides a handy tool to help you find the payments that you might be eligible for.
All employees, including casual employees, are entitled to 12 months of unpaid parental leave.
Register a birth
All babies born in NSW need to be registered within 60 days of the birth – the hospital doesn't do this for you. The parents of the baby can register the birth online.
The biological parents of a child are able to add a father's details to a birth registered in NSW.
Where women are in a married or de facto relationship, the other mother can be added to the birth registration.
Birth certificates
Before you can apply for a birth certificate, the birth needs to have been registered (see above).
You can resume an online birth certificate application that you've already started, or check the status of your online birth certificate application.
To commemorate a loss, you can apply for a Recognition of Early Pregnancy Loss certificate.