Slater and Gordon extends parental, reproductive leave to all employees

National law firm Slater and Gordon has broadened parental and reproductive leave to all employees, effective FY2026–27.

Slater and Gordon is extending its suite of parental and reproductive leave entitlements to all employees, thereby introducing what it calls “one of the most comprehensive parental leave packages” in the Australian legal profession.

In late 2024, Slater and Gordon staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of access to significantly increased employee benefits, via a union enterprise agreement. Now, from July of this year, employees engaged under individual employment arrangements will have access to the same entitlements currently available under that enterprise agreement, including 26 weeks of paid parental leave with equal access for all parents, paid gender affirmation leave, paid reproductive leave, and paid leave in the event of miscarriage or stillbirth.

The 26-week entitlement, available equally to all parents regardless of their role in caring for a new child, “places the firm among a small number of Australian law firms offering parental leave at this level”, Slater and Gordon said in a statement.

The changes will take effect on 1 July 2026.

It also follows, as reported by HR Leader’s sister brand, Lawyers Weekly, a trend of major law firms in Australia introducing or extending paid parental leave schemes.

Speaking about the widened scheme, Slater and Gordon chief executive Dina Tutungi (pictured) said that the changes reflected the firm’s obligations to the people who make its work possible.

“Slater and Gordon exists to help people through some of the hardest moments of their lives. It matters that the people who do that work feel genuinely supported through the hard and significant moments in their own lives, too,” she said.

“Becoming a parent, navigating a pregnancy loss, affirming your gender – these aren’t peripheral to someone’s working life. They’re central to it.

“We want the people who work here to know that this firm has their back, and that what happens to them matters to us.”