Long Service Leave by State 2026-27
All eight jurisdictions’ rules for long service leave by state — thresholds, accrual rates and the pro-rata termination rules — each verified against that state’s own official source.
Last updated: July 2026 · 8 state & territory LSL laws, all verified in-session · FY 2026–27
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How to Read This Table
Three numbers matter in every row. Take leave after — the years of continuous service before you can actually go on leave. Entitlement — how much leave that milestone earns. Pro-rata from — the earlier threshold where accrued leave starts converting to money if your employment ends; between that point and full qualification, most states pay only for the exits listed under the table (Victoria is the famous exception — any exit pays from 7 years).
The Pattern in One Line
Most of Australia: 8⅔ weeks at 10 years, pro-rata from 7 · SA & NT: 13 weeks · VIC & ACT: qualify at 7 years · NSW & ACT: pro-rata from 5
Long Service Leave — All States & Territories 2026–27
| Jurisdiction | Take leave after | Entitlement | Accrual/year | Pro-rata from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 10 years | 8.67 wks (2 months) | 0.87 wks | 5 years* |
| Victoria | 7 years | 1 wk per 60 wks (≈6.1 wks at 7 yrs) | 0.87 wks | 7 years — any exit |
| Queensland | 10 years | 8.6667 wks | 0.87 wks | 7 years* |
| Western Australia | 10 years | 8⅔ wks | 0.87 wks | 7 years* |
| South Australia | 10 years | 13 wks | 1.3 wks | 7 years* |
| Tasmania | 10 years | 8⅔ wks | 0.87 wks | 7 years* |
| ACT | 7 years | 1/5 month per year (1.4 months at 7 yrs) | 0.87 wks† | 5 years* |
| Northern Territory | 10 years | 13 wks | 1.3 wks | 7 years* |
* Pro-rata before full qualification pays only for specific exits — typically illness, incapacity or pressing necessity, retirement or death, redundancy, or employer termination other than serious misconduct; plain resignation generally does not qualify (Victoria excepted — any exit pays at 7+). † The ACT Act states its rate in months (1/5 per year); the weekly figure takes a month as 4⅓ weeks. At full qualification, payouts apply on any exit in NSW, VIC, QLD and the ACT; WA and SA exclude serious-misconduct dismissals; the NT pays completed 5-year blocks only after misconduct dismissals.
Found your state? Two things worth checking next
→ Your accrual in dollars — your state, years and pay, converted to weeks and money. → How to actually take it — timing, payment and the continuity traps.Reading Between the Rows
The map has two generosity outliers — South Australia and the Northern Territory at 13 weeks per decade, half again the national norm — and two accessibility outliers: Victoria and the ACT, where the leave can be taken from 7 years. The combination that matters most in practice is NSW’s: a 10-year full entitlement but pro-rata from just 5 years, so a redundancy at year 6 in Sydney pays long service leave that the same redundancy in Brisbane (7-year threshold) would not.
These are the general private-sector schemes. Federal-system exceptions exist where an award or agreement contains its own long service terms, state public servants have separate acts, and four industries — building and construction, contract cleaning, community services and coal mining — run portable schemes where service follows the worker between employers. If one of those is you, your scheme’s rules replace this table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Victoria pay out on resignation when other states don’t?
Victoria rewrote its Act in 2018 to make the entitlement unconditional from 7 years — once you cross the line, the accrued leave is yours on any exit, and not paying it is an offence with daily penalties. Other states kept the older conditional model between the pro-rata and full thresholds. It’s the single biggest practical difference in the table.
What counts as “pressing necessity” if I resign before 10 years?
The statutes deliberately don’t define it exhaustively — relocating for a partner’s job, caring obligations, and health-driven moves have all qualified in tribunal decisions. The test is that the necessity genuinely drove the resignation. If you’re resigning between the thresholds for a real reason, say so in writing at the time — it’s the evidence that later gets the payout.
Is long service leave paid at my current rate or an average?
Ordinary pay at the time you take the leave (or leave employment), excluding overtime and penalties — with averaging rules for variable-hours and commission workers, and in some states a higher-of test against multi-year averages so a recent drop in hours doesn’t slash a decade of accrual. Casual loading generally counts for casuals.
Do all these rules apply if my award has its own LSL clause?
Not always — some pre-modern award long service terms still operate in place of state schemes for particular workforces, and enterprise agreements can contain their own (no less favourable) arrangements. The state scheme is the default; if your award or agreement mentions long service leave, read that first.
Also in Australia:
📋 Entitlements verified — Official sources: NSW Industrial Relations · VIC (Workforce Inspectorate) · Business Queensland · WA Private Sector Labour Relations · SafeWork SA · Long Service Leave Act 1976 (Tas) · Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) · Long Service Leave Act 1981 (NT)
⚠️ This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. KnowMyGovt is an independent service with no affiliation with or endorsement by any state or territory government or the Australian Government, and is not responsible for decisions you make based on it.
