## Long service leave for a national-system employer: what law actually applies

**Short answer: there is no single national long service leave (LSL) entitlement. For most employees, LSL is governed by the law of the State or Territory in which the employee works, so the accrual rate, the qualifying period, and the rules on pro-rata payment on termination all depend on the employee's location.**

### Why the Fair Work Act does not set the figure

Although the employer is a national-system employer covered by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the Act does not contain a substantive, uniform LSL standard:

- Section 113 of the Fair Work Act includes long service leave in the National Employment Standards, but only as a **transitional/preservation provision**. It preserves LSL terms from certain pre-modern awards ("applicable award-derived long service leave terms") for employees who were covered by them. It does not itself prescribe an accrual rate or qualifying period for the general workforce.
- A uniform national LSL standard was foreshadowed when the NES were enacted, but it has never been legislated.
- Because State and Territory LSL laws are not excluded by the Fair Work Act (see s 27(2), which saves State and Territory long service leave laws from the general s 26 exclusion), those laws continue to apply to national-system employees.

So in practice the hierarchy is: an applicable award-derived LSL term (rare, legacy cases) or a federally registered agreement term dealing with LSL may apply; otherwise - and for the large majority of employees - **the relevant State or Territory LSL Act governs**.

### The entitlement varies by State and Territory

Each jurisdiction has its own LSL statute with its own qualifying period, accrual rate, and pro-rata termination rules. As a guide to how different they are (FY2025-26 position, main private-sector Acts):

| Jurisdiction | Statute | Core entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW) | 2 months (8.67 weeks) after 10 years; pro-rata on termination after 5 years in certain circumstances |
| Victoria | Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) | Leave may be taken after 7 years, accruing at 1 week per 60 weeks of service (about 8.67 weeks per 10 years); paid out pro-rata after 7 years |
| Queensland | Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) | 8.6667 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata on termination after 7 years in certain circumstances |
| Western Australia | Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) | 8.667 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata after 7 years in certain circumstances |
| South Australia | Long Service Leave Act 1987 (SA) | 13 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata after 7 years |
| Tasmania | Long Service Leave Act 1976 (Tas) | 8.667 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata after 7 years in certain circumstances |
| ACT | Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) | About 6.07 weeks after 7 years (1/5 of a month per year of service) |
| NT | Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT) | 13 weeks after 10 years; pro-rata after 7 years in certain circumstances |

(These are the headline figures only - each Act has its own detailed rules on what counts as continuous service, how casuals accrue, payment rates, and cashing out.)

On top of that, several jurisdictions run **portable long service leave schemes** for particular industries (for example building and construction everywhere, plus contract cleaning, security, and community services in some States/Territories), which displace or supplement the general Act for workers in those industries.

### What the employer should actually do

1. Identify **where each employee works** - that fixes the governing State/Territory LSL Act (or portable scheme).
2. Check whether a **legacy award-derived LSL term** (preserved via s 113 FW Act) or an enterprise agreement LSL term applies instead - uncommon, but it can override the State Act in some cases.
3. Apply that jurisdiction's qualifying period, accrual rate, and pro-rata termination rules - and do this **per location** for a multi-state workforce, because an employee in Adelaide (13 weeks after 10 years) is not on the same entitlement as one in Sydney (8.67 weeks after 10 years) or Canberra (leave available after 7 years).

The one figure people often quote - roughly 8.67 weeks after 10 years - is only a common pattern in some jurisdictions, not a national rule, and it is wrong for SA, the NT, the ACT and Victoria's timing, among others.