## No uniform national entitlement

As at FY2025–26, there is **no single Australian long service leave figure**—such as a uniform number of weeks after a uniform number of years—that applies to every national-system employee.

Long service leave is included in the National Employment Standards, but the **Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) does not prescribe a nationally uniform quantum**. Under s 113:

1. preserved, applicable award-derived long service leave terms from a pre-modern award may govern; and
2. otherwise, the employee is entitled under the applicable **State or Territory long service leave law**.

For most national-system employees, it is therefore State or Territory legislation—not a Commonwealth-wide numerical standard—that supplies the qualifying period, accrual rate, termination entitlement and payment rules.

## General State and Territory benchmarks

For an employee whose service is wholly in one jurisdiction and who is not covered by a special or portable scheme, the headline rules are:

| Employee’s work location | General legislation | Headline leave-taking entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| ACT | *Long Service Leave Act 1976* | Accrues at one-fifth of a month for each year of service; generally accessible after 7 years |
| NSW | *Long Service Leave Act 1955* | 2 months after 10 years, plus 1 month for each further 5 years |
| Northern Territory | *Long Service Leave Act 1981* | 13 weeks after 10 years, plus 6.5 weeks for each further 5 years |
| Queensland | *Industrial Relations Act 2016* | 8.6667 weeks after 10 years, with proportionate accrual thereafter |
| South Australia | *Long Service Leave Act 1987* | 13 weeks after 10 years, plus 1.3 weeks for each subsequent year |
| Tasmania | *Long Service Leave Act 1976* | 8⅔ weeks after 10 years, plus 4⅓ weeks for each further 5 years |
| Victoria | *Long Service Leave Act 2018* | Accrues as 1/60 of continuous employment and is generally accessible after 7 years |
| Western Australia | *Long Service Leave Act 1958* | 8.667 weeks after 10 years, plus 4.333 weeks for each further 5 years |

These are only headline rules. Jurisdictions also differ on pro-rata payment when employment ends—sometimes after 5 or 7 years—and on whether the reason for resignation or dismissal affects payment.

## Working out an individual entitlement

The employer should:

1. **Identify the employee’s work location and governing law.** For employment wholly performed in one State or Territory, that jurisdiction’s law will ordinarily apply. The employer’s registered office or payroll location is not necessarily decisive.
2. **Check for a different applicable source**, including preserved pre-modern award terms, an enterprise agreement, a special Commonwealth or industry scheme, or a State portable long service leave scheme.
3. **Calculate recognised continuous service** under that source, including its rules for absences, casual or part-time service, transfers of business and service with related or predecessor employers.
4. **Apply the local accrual and vesting rules**, deducting leave already taken.
5. **Value the leave using the local “ordinary pay” rules.** The treatment of variable hours, commissions, allowances and averaging periods differs by jurisdiction.
6. **If employment is ending**, apply the jurisdiction-specific pro-rata threshold and termination-reason rules.

For interstate, remote, transferred or overseas employment, the relevant question is which jurisdiction has the necessary territorial connection to the service and which periods that law recognises. It is not always sufficient to apply the law of the employee’s current office to all earlier service.

A national employer may offer a common company entitlement, but it must still be checked against each employee’s location-specific statutory minimum and cannot be assumed to displace the local rules.