Long service leave for employees of national-system employers covered by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) is governed by state and territory legislation, not by the federal Act. The Fair Work Act does not include long service leave as a National Employment Standard and leaves these entitlements to be regulated at the state and territory level.

There is no uniform long service leave figure or entitlement that applies the same way across the whole country. The way an employee's long service leave is worked out—including qualifying periods, accrual rates, and payment on termination—turns on the employee's location, specifically the state or territory in which they work. Employers must consult the long service leave statute of the relevant jurisdiction to determine the entitlement for each employee.