You are entitled to five days of leave each calendar year, to provide personal care or support to your own children, parents, spouse or partner or a person living in the same household who needs significant care or support due to a serious health condition. The leave is unpaid. You are not entitled to unemployment benefits, even if you are not paid during the leave.
The leave can be taken all at once or as individual days. Unused days of leave lapse at the end of each calender year.
Close family members are defined as:
The close family member must be seriously ill and need significant care or support on the days you take as leave.
For example, you may need to accompany a relative to a diagnostic evaluation for dementia or some other serious illness such as cancer. Or you may need to accompany a relative with Alzheimer's or another serious physical or mental health condition for a blood test or a medical/dental appointment. There can also be situations in which you need to care for or support a relative who is dying, hospitalised, in hospice care or in a nursing home.
You will have to submit medical documentation to qualify for leave. Examples of medical documentation include an invitation to an appointment for treatment or other documentation that supports the need for significant care or support. You are responsible for procuring and paying for the relevant medical documentation.
You only have to show the documentation, and it will not be kept on file. If the five days are taken individually over the course of a year, the same documentation can be used if the leave is related to the same health condition and the same person.