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

### Which law actually governs long service leave

For most national-system employees, long service leave (LSL) is **not** governed by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The Fair Work Act deals with the National Employment Standards (NES) and modern awards, but LSL is the major exception: the NES does **not** set the entitlement. Instead, the NES (s 113) preserves the operation of the relevant **state and territory long service leave laws**, and they are what actually determine the entitlement for the vast majority of employees.

So the level of law that governs LSL for most employees is **state/territory legislation**, not the federal Fair Work Act. The practical consequence is that the answer depends on **where the employee is located** (the state or territory whose law applies), not on a single Commonwealth standard.

There are limited exceptions where a different source applies:
- A small number of **pre-modernisation award-derived LSL entitlements** are preserved under the Fair Work Act (s 113(3)) for some employees - these are being progressively wound back but can still apply.
- Some employees are covered by an **enterprise agreement** or a registered/applicable LSL agreement with its own terms.
- A few industries have **portable LSL schemes** (e.g. building and construction, coal mining, contract cleaning, community services in some jurisdictions) run by state portable-leave authorities, which sit on top of or instead of the general state Act.

But for the typical national-system employee, the governing instrument is the LSL Act of their **state or territory**.

### There is no uniform figure that applies the same way everywhere

Because LSL is set by eight different state/territory laws, **there is no single national long service leave entitlement that applies the same way across the whole country.** The qualifying period, the amount of leave, whether you get a pro-rata payout on leaving early, and how the leave accrues all differ by jurisdiction. The same length of service can produce a different entitlement depending on which state or territory the employee is in.

To illustrate the variation (rather than to state one national number), the general-scheme entitlements differ along these lines:

| Jurisdiction | Leave at first full entitlement | When it is first reached |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 2 months (8.667 weeks) | after 10 years |
| Victoria | 13 weeks | after 10 years |
| Queensland | 8.6667 weeks | after 10 years |
| South Australia | 13 weeks | after 10 years |
| Western Australia | 8.667 weeks | after 10 years |
| Tasmania | 8.667 weeks | after 10 years |
| ACT | 1/5 of a month per year (≈6.0667 weeks at 10 years) | after 7 years (pro-rata) / 10 years |
| NT | 13 weeks | after 10 years |

(These are indicative general-scheme figures; the precise calculation, ordinary-pay definition, and pro-rata-on-termination rules are set by each jurisdiction's Act and vary.)

The differences are not just the headline weeks. They also include:
- **Qualifying period:** most jurisdictions reach full LSL at 10 years, but the point at which a pro-rata entitlement first arises on termination varies (for example, around 5 years in Victoria, 7 years in NSW/Queensland/SA/WA/Tasmania, and 7 years in the ACT), and the conditions attached to pro-rata payouts differ.
- **Accrual after the first entitlement:** the additional leave earned per further period of service differs by state.
- **How "ordinary pay" is calculated:** the treatment of allowances, loadings, commissions, and averaging differs.

### Working out an individual employee's entitlement

To work out a given employee's LSL you would:
1. **Identify the applicable jurisdiction** - generally the state or territory in which the employee is based/works (subject to any portable scheme or preserved award/agreement term).
2. **Apply that jurisdiction's LSL Act** - check the qualifying period for full and pro-rata entitlement, the leave formula, and the definition of ordinary pay.
3. **Apply the relevant accrual rate** to the employee's completed continuous service.
4. **Check for any overriding instrument** - a preserved award-derived entitlement under the Fair Work Act, an enterprise/registered agreement, or a portable LSL scheme - which can change the result.

### Bottom line

Long service leave for most national-system employees is governed by **state and territory law**, not by the Fair Work Act's NES. There is **no uniform national figure** that applies the same way everywhere; the entitlement turns on the **employee's location** (their state or territory), with limited exceptions for preserved award terms, enterprise agreements, and portable-leave schemes.