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
- 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 does not do this for you. The parents of the baby can register the birth online.
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.
Add a parent to a registration
If the birth was registered in NSW, you can apply to add another parent’s details to the child’s birth registration. An updated birth certificate can be ordered at the same time.