Guide
How Employers Verify a Telehealth GP Certificate, AHPRA Check and QR Code Guide
25 Sept 2026
Carer's Leave
How Long Can Carer's Leave Last? Duration and Certificate Requirements
Carer's leave is part of the same 10-day personal/carer's leave entitlement as sick leave for full-time employees, pro rata for part-time employees. Once that balance is used, unpaid carer's leave is available, and a certificate can cover a single day or several consecutive days depending on the situation.
- Real-time phone consultation with an AHPRA-registered GP
- A Certificate can cover a single day or an extended period
- Draws on the same shared leave entitlement as sick leave
- Accepted by employers Australia-wide
- Same-day issuance if approved
10 days paid entitlement shared with sick leave each year
From $9.99
- One-off payment
- Full refund if declined
- Same-day delivery if approved
AHPRA-registered GPs
Same-day delivery if approved
100% secure & private
Full refund if declined
Accepted across Australia
Leave balance and duration
Understanding Your Carer's Leave Balance
A carer's leave certificate and your workplace leave balance answer different questions. The GP assesses whether care or support is medically relevant and the period that can reasonably be supported. Your available paid or unpaid leave is determined separately under workplace and Fair Work rules.
This distinction matters when a caring situation continues for several days. A certificate may support a particular period, but it does not create additional paid leave or determine how much statutory leave remains in your balance.
The sections below explain paid personal/carer's leave, the unpaid entitlement, accumulated balances, compassionate leave and how certificate duration fits around those rules.
Three Different Questions
What period can the GP support?
A clinical assessment question.
How much paid leave have you accrued?
An employment entitlement and balance question.
What evidence does work require?
A separate workplace evidence question.
Paid leave
Certificate Duration and Leave Balance Are Different Things
The GP's certificate and the employee's leave balance answer different questions. The GP assesses the period for which care or support is medically relevant. Fair Work rules determine how much paid or unpaid carer's leave the employee has available.
Full-time employees accrue 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave each year, while part-time employees accrue it on a pro-rata basis. Unpaid carer's leave can also apply in qualifying circumstances, including for casual employees. The amount available to an individual employee depends on employment type and accumulated balance.
Paid sick leave and paid carer's leave come from the same personal/carer's leave entitlement. Using some of that accumulated balance for your own illness therefore reduces the amount remaining for paid carer's leave, and vice versa.
Fair Work guidance on paid sick and carer's leaveFull-time
10 days each year
The yearly entitlement is based on ordinary hours of work.
Part-time
Pro-rata entitlement
Accrual reflects the employee's ordinary hours of work.
Casual
No paid personal/carer's leave
Casual employees can instead access unpaid carer's leave where the qualifying rules are met.
When paid leave is unavailable
What Happens When Your Paid Carer's Leave Runs Out?
Running out of paid personal/carer's leave does not create an unlimited unpaid entitlement. Fair Work provides 2 days of unpaid carer's leave each time an immediate family or household member needs care or support because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency.
Full-time and part-time employees can access unpaid carer's leave when they have no paid sick/carer's leave left. Casual employees can also access the 2-day unpaid entitlement because they do not accrue paid personal/carer's leave under the National Employment Standards.
If a caring situation may extend beyond the available statutory leave, do not assume that a longer medical certificate creates extra leave. Other workplace arrangements or entitlements may need to be discussed separately with the employer.
Unpaid entitlement
2 Days Per Qualifying Occasion
The entitlement applies each time the qualifying care or support need arises. It should not be described as unlimited unpaid carer's leave.
Fair Work guidance on unpaid carer's leaveHow OMC Health works
We connect you with trusted Australian medical practices.
1
Book Your Certificate
You book your certificate online with OMC Health.
2
Consult with an AHPRA-Registered GP
We connect you with an available AHPRA-registered GP from one of our partner practices for a real-time phone consultation.
3
Receive Your Certificate If Approved
If clinically appropriate, the GP issues your certificate under their own AHPRA registration and their practice details. It is emailed to you securely.
Ready to get started?
Book a real-time consultation with an AHPRA-registered GP. From 9.99.
GP-certified period
How the Certificate Covers the Caring Period
Avoid treating a two-day, five-day or other certificate period as a legal entitlement. The GP determines the clinically supportable caring period. If the caring need continues beyond that period, a further assessment may be appropriate.
The supported period may be short for an isolated caring episode or longer where the available clinical information supports an ongoing need. That clinical period does not tell payroll whether the leave is paid, unpaid or covered by another workplace arrangement.
For a practical example of how a caring period is assessed when a child is unwell, see the carer's certificate for a sick child.
Do not combine these
Certificate Period ≠ Leave Balance
Certificate
Records the caring period the GP can reasonably support.
Paid balance
Depends on accrued personal/carer's leave.
Unpaid entitlement
Depends on the Fair Work qualifying rules for the particular occasion.
Different entitlement
Compassionate Leave vs Carer's Leave
Compassionate leave is separate from the paid personal/carer's leave balance. It can apply in specific circumstances including when an immediate family or household member dies or develops a life-threatening illness or injury.
Under the National Employment Standards, employees can receive 2 days of compassionate leave each qualifying occasion. It does not accumulate and it is not deducted from the personal/carer's leave balance.
If the main question is whether you need sick leave for yourself or carer's leave for someone else, see carer's leave compared with sick leave.
Simple distinction
Which Leave Question Are You Trying to Answer?
Carer's leave
Care or support because an immediate family or household member is ill, injured or affected by an unexpected emergency.
Compassionate leave
A separate entitlement for defined serious events such as death or a life-threatening illness or injury.
Certificate evidence
The document required can depend on the leave type, circumstances and reasonable workplace evidence requirements.
PRICING
Simple, transparent pricing
One-off payment. No hidden fees. If the GP declines, you get a full refund.
FROM$9.99
One-off payment. All prices include GST.
View full pricing details- AHPRA reviewed by a registered GP
- Delivered on the same day if approved
- Secure and confidential
- Full refund if GP declines
- No hidden fees
Secure payment
Same-day delivery
Accumulation
What Happens to Unused Paid Leave?
Paid personal/carer's leave for full-time and part-time employees accumulates progressively during employment based on ordinary hours.
The balance at the end of the year carries over into the next year. It does not simply reset to zero at the start of a new leave year.
Accrual
Builds progressively
Paid personal/carer's leave starts accumulating from the employee's first day and is based on ordinary hours.
Carry-over
Unused balance continues
Unused paid sick and carer's leave carries over from one year to the next.
Current balance
Check employer records
Your payroll or HR system may show the accumulated balance. If it is unclear, ask payroll or HR to confirm the current figure.
Ongoing illness
Long-Term Illness and Separate Caring Occasions
A long-term illness can create genuine caring needs, but it should not be treated as one open-ended certificate or unlimited leave entitlement. The relevant caring period and the applicable leave rules need to be considered for the circumstances being assessed.
Workplace evidence
Evidence Can Still Be Requested
An employer may ask for evidence supporting the employee's entitlement to carer's leave. What evidence is reasonable can depend on the circumstances, workplace policy, award or registered agreement.
Employer evidence and certificate acceptance →Paid or unpaid
Does the Certificate Change?
The clinical purpose of the certificate does not change because payroll records the absence as paid or unpaid. It documents the assessed caring period. The employer separately determines how that absence is processed against the employee's available entitlement.
Extended caring period
Planning Around a Longer Caring Need
If you expect the caring need to continue, explain the current situation and likely short-term timeline during the consultation. The certificate should reflect the period the GP can reasonably support rather than being extended simply to match the amount of leave available in your workplace balance.
If circumstances change or the caring responsibility continues beyond the supported period, a further assessment may be appropriate. Longer-term workplace leave planning should be handled separately from the medical certification decision.
Remember
The certificate supports a clinically assessed caring period. It does not calculate your payroll balance, guarantee paid leave or create additional statutory entitlement.
Fair Work overview of sick and carer's leaveAlready Have an OMC Health Carer's Certificate?
Use the certificate ID or QR verification details to check the document's authenticity.
Frequently asked questions
View all FAQsFull-time employees get 10 days of combined personal and carer's leave a year, pro-rata for part-time staff, shared with any sick leave taken in the same period rather than being a separate standalone allowance.
Yes, unused personal and carer's leave typically accumulates rather than resetting to zero each year, so your available balance reflects what you've built up over time, minus whatever you've already used.
You move to unpaid carer's leave, which remains available for as long as the genuine caring need continues, subject to your employer's reasonable evidence requirements. There's no separate cap on the unpaid portion.
Casual employees have a separate unpaid carer's leave entitlement of 2 days per occasion, since they don't accrue the same paid personal leave balance as permanent staff.
Carer's leave is part of the same 10-day personal/carer's leave entitlement as sick leave for full-time employees, pro rata for part-time employees. Once that balance is used, unpaid carer's leave is available, and a certificate can cover a single day or several consecutive days depending on the situation.