On 1 January 2013, Australia introduced 2 weeks of government-funded Dad and Partner Pay for eligible working fathers or partners, including adopting parents and same-sex partner parents. This paper uses existing literature to describe Australia’s family leave policy history leading up to this initiative, as well as providing background to the social context in which changes are being made. International parental/paternity leave policies and practices are considered in order to highlight key findings from policy enactment that may inform Australia’s current and future policy approaches to parental/paternity leave, pay and other financial support to new parents.