# Long Service Leave for National-System Employers: How It Actually Works

## The short answer

There is **no single national long service leave (LSL) entitlement** that applies uniformly across Australia. Even though your business is a national-system employer covered by the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth), long service leave is — for the overwhelming majority of employees — governed by **State and Territory legislation**, and the entitlements differ materially between jurisdictions. The correct answer for any given employee depends primarily on **where that employee works**.

## Which level of law governs?

### The Fair Work Act does not set a national LSL standard

Long service leave is listed in the National Employment Standards (s 87A onwards is annual leave; LSL sits at **Part 2-2, Division 9, s 113** of the Fair Work Act), but the NES provision is essentially a **transitional/preservation mechanism**, not a substantive uniform entitlement. Section 113 preserves LSL entitlements derived from certain **pre-modern awards** (pre-2010 award-derived LSL terms) for a limited cohort of employees. It does not prescribe a national accrual rate or qualifying period.

A long-anticipated uniform national LSL standard has never been enacted. So:

### State and Territory Acts do the substantive work

For most employees, the operative source is the LSL statute of the State or Territory in which they are employed, for example:

- **NSW** — *Long Service Leave Act 1955*: 2 months (8.67 weeks) after 10 years' service, with pro-rata access in certain circumstances after 5 years.
- **Victoria** — *Long Service Leave Act 2018*: entitlement accrues at 1/60th of service; leave can be **taken after 7 years**.
- **Queensland** — *Industrial Relations Act 2016*: 8.6667 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata after 7 years in prescribed circumstances.
- **Western Australia** — *Long Service Leave Act 1958*: 8⅔ weeks after 10 years.
- **South Australia** — *Long Service Leave Act 1987*: **13 weeks after 10 years** (a notably more generous rate — 1.3 weeks per year).
- **Tasmania** — *Long Service Leave Act 1976*: 8.6667 weeks after 10 years.
- **ACT** — *Long Service Leave Act 1976* (ACT): entitlement after **7 years** (1/5 of a month per year of service).
- **NT** — *Long Service Leave Act 1981* (NT): 13 weeks after 10 years.

(These are simplified headline figures; each Act has its own rules on pro-rata entitlements on termination, what counts as continuous service, treatment of casuals, cashing out, and payment rates.)

### Other possible sources

- **Enterprise agreements or pre-reform instruments** may contain LSL terms that displace or interact with State law in specific ways.
- **Portable LSL schemes** exist under separate legislation for certain industries (e.g. building and construction in all jurisdictions, and in some jurisdictions cleaning, security, community services), where service is portable between employers within the industry.

## Practical implications for a multi-state employer

1. **Apply the law of each employee's jurisdiction separately.** An employee in Adelaide accrues at a different rate (13 weeks/10 years) than one in Sydney (8.67 weeks/10 years), and a Victorian or ACT employee may take leave years earlier (7 years) than a Queensland colleague can (10 years, subject to pro-rata rules).
2. **Employees who move between States** raise continuity and choice-of-law questions — most Acts have their own connection tests (e.g. where the employee is "employed in" the State), and these need case-by-case analysis.
3. **Check for award-derived LSL terms** preserved under s 113 FW Act for long-serving employees whose employment predates modern awards, and for any applicable enterprise agreement terms.
4. **Check for portable scheme coverage** if you operate in construction or other covered industries.

## Bottom line

Long service leave is the major employment entitlement that remains **State/Territory-based** despite the national workplace relations system. Do not apply a single figure nationally: determine each employee's governing statute by their location (and any applicable instrument or portable scheme), and calculate the qualifying period, accrual rate, pro-rata rights and payment under that specific law.