## Which law governs the long service leave entitlement

**The applicable law is State law — specifically the law of Victoria: the *Long Service Leave Act 2018* (Vic).**

**Level of government:** the **State** government (Victoria), not the Commonwealth.

### Why State law applies even though the employer is national-system

Long service leave (LSL) is **not** set as a single uniform national entitlement. Even though the employer is a national-system employer covered by the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth), the Commonwealth legislation does **not** supply the substantive LSL entitlement here. Instead:

- The National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act include LSL only as a **preserved entitlement**. Section 113 of the Fair Work Act expressly provides that an employee's LSL entitlement is generally the entitlement under an **applicable State or Territory long service leave law** (or a pre-existing/preserved instrument), rather than a free-standing federal figure.
- The Fair Work Act therefore **defers to** and preserves the operation of State LSL statutes; it does not override them with a national number.

### What this means for a Victorian worker

- Because the employee works in **Victoria**, the relevant State statute is the **Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic)**, administered in Victoria (with information available through Business Victoria / the Wage Inspectorate Victoria).
- That Act sets the qualifying period, the rate of accrual, how an employee can take leave, and how the entitlement is calculated for that jurisdiction. (As a general illustration only, the Victorian scheme provides for an entitlement expressed in weeks of leave per years of continuous employment, with eligibility to take leave arising after a set number of years of continuous service — the precise figures are those in the Victorian Act, which the employee should confirm for their exact circumstances.)

### Why there is no single national figure

LSL entitlements differ **between States and Territories** — the qualifying years of service, the accrual rate, and the calculation rules are each set by the individual State/Territory legislation. A worker doing the same job under the same federal employer can have a **different LSL entitlement in Victoria than in, say, New South Wales, Queensland or Western Australia**, because each jurisdiction's own Act governs. That is exactly why no uniform Australia-wide LSL number can be quoted.

**Bottom line:** For this employee, look to **Victorian State law — the *Long Service Leave Act 2018* (Vic)** — as preserved and applied through s 113 of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth). The governing level of government is the **State of Victoria**.