Leave

To apply for, amend or cancel leave, visit Submit a leave application.

See your certified agreement, modern award and employment standards for a full list of leave types and entitlements.

Most Queensland Government employees (employees employed under the Public Sector Act 2022) are entitled to the following leave.

Recreation leave (and leave loading)

You’re entitled to a minimum of 20 working days per year accumulative (pro rata for part-time employees) plus 17.5% leave loading. See the Recreation leave directive for more.

You can apply to have a part of your annual leave 'cashed out'. This means you’ll be paid for an amount of your annual leave instead of taking it as an absence. See the Cashing out annual leave circular for more.

Sick leave (including carers leave)

You’re entitled to 10 working days per year accumulative (pro rata for part-time employees) on full pay that can also be accessed for caring responsibilities of immediate family and household members. See the Sick leave directive for more.

Meritorious sick leave

You’re entitled to an additional 13 weeks of sick leave after 26 years continuous service. See the Sick leave directive for more.

To request meritorious sick leave, visit Meritorious sick leave.

Paid parental leave

You’re entitled to maternity, adoption, surrogacy, long spousal, short spousal, pre-natal, pre-adoption and pre-surrogacy leave. Entitlements include 14 weeks paid parental and 1 week paid spousal leave which may be taken at half pay for double the time. See the Paid parental leave directive for more.

Long service leave

You’re entitled to 13 weeks long service leave after 10 years' continuous service, with pro rata access after 7 years continuous service. See the Long service leave circular for more.

Purchased leave

You can purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year by reducing your fortnightly salary. See the Implementing purchased leave arrangements directive for more.

To request purchased leave, visit Apply, change or cancel purchased leave.

Special leave

You may be entitled to special leave either on full-pay or without pay. This includes election leave, declared emergency situation leave, Defence Reserves Forces leave, bereavement leave, compassionate leave etc. See the Special leave directive for more.

Domestic and family violence leave

You’re entitled to a minimum of 10 days paid leave per year. You can take as consecutive days, a single day or part of a day to attend medical, legal and counselling appointments, and arrange alternative accommodation and childcare assistance. See the Support for employees affected by domestic and family violence directive for more.

Your agency can grant additional leave (e.g. discretionary paid or unpaid special leave) in addition to the minimum 10 days paid leave provided under this directive.

Study and examination leave

You can access paid or unpaid leave to undertake study or research or attend examinations. See the Study and examination leave directive for more.