# How long service leave is worked out, and why there is no single national figure

## Short answer

There is **no uniform long service leave (LSL) entitlement that applies the same way everywhere in Australia.** Even though you are a national-system employer under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the amount of LSL an employee gets, and when they qualify, is governed almost entirely by **State and Territory long service leave legislation**, not by the Fair Work Act. Because each State and Territory has its own LSL law, the entitlement turns on **where the employee is located / where they work**, and the figures genuinely differ from one jurisdiction to the next.

## Which level of law actually governs LSL

For most national-system employees, LSL is **not** set by the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act in the way other entitlements (annual leave, personal leave, etc.) are. The Fair Work Act preserves the operation of State and Territory LSL laws:

- Section 113 of the Fair Work Act deals with LSL. For most employees it preserves an entitlement to LSL "in accordance with applicable award-derived" or, more relevantly, allows the relevant **State or Territory LSL legislation to continue to apply.** The NES does not impose its own single national LSL formula for the general workforce.
- This means the practical source of the entitlement for a typical employee is the LSL Act of the State or Territory in which they are employed, for example:
  - **NSW** - Long Service Leave Act 1955
  - **Victoria** - Long Service Leave Act 2018
  - **Queensland** - Industrial Relations Act 2016 (LSL provisions)
  - **South Australia** - Long Service Leave Act 1987
  - **Western Australia** - Long Service Leave Act 1958
  - **Tasmania** - Long Service Leave Act 1976
  - **ACT** - Long Service Leave Act 1976
  - **NT** - Long Service Leave Act 1981
- A small number of employees instead have LSL under a **pre-modern-award "award-derived" entitlement** preserved by the NES, or under a registered agreement, but for most people it is the relevant State/Territory statute that governs.

## Why the figure is not the same everywhere

Because each jurisdiction legislates its own LSL scheme, the key variables differ by location:

1. **The qualifying period** (how long you must work before becoming entitled). This is commonly around 10 years of continuous service for a full entitlement, but it is **not identical across all jurisdictions**, and the rules on pro-rata access on termination differ.
2. **The amount of leave** for a given period of service (the accrual rate / the number of weeks per completed years of service) differs between jurisdictions.
3. **Pro-rata entitlements on termination** (for example after 7 years in some places, 5 years in others, and depending on the reason for leaving) vary.
4. **How the leave is paid** (the ordinary-pay calculation, treatment of allowances, averaging) is defined by each Act.

There are also some **federal/industry-specific schemes** (for example portable LSL schemes for the building and construction industry and certain other sectors) that operate differently again, and several States have **portable LSL schemes** for particular industries (cleaning, community services, contract security, etc.).

## How an individual employee's entitlement is actually worked out

To work out a specific employee's LSL, you would:

1. **Identify the governing law** - normally the LSL Act of the State or Territory where the employee performs their work (with rules to deal with employees who move between jurisdictions). Then check whether instead a preserved award-derived entitlement or a portable-scheme applies.
2. **Apply that jurisdiction's qualifying period** to the employee's period of continuous service to see whether a full or pro-rata entitlement has arisen.
3. **Apply that jurisdiction's accrual rate** to the completed years of continuous service to get the number of weeks of leave.
4. **Apply that jurisdiction's "ordinary pay" definition** to calculate the dollar value.

## Bottom line

- The level of law that governs LSL for most national-system employees is **State and Territory legislation** (preserved by s 113 of the Fair Work Act), not a single national NES formula.
- Therefore there is **no one national long service leave figure that applies the same way across the whole country.**
- The correct answer for any given employee **depends on their location** (the State or Territory whose LSL law applies), and the qualifying period, accrual rate, pro-rata rules and pay calculation must be read out of that jurisdiction's LSL Act (or the relevant portable scheme / preserved award-derived entitlement).