How many weeks of long service leave have you accrued, and can you take it or cash it out? Calculate LSL entitlement and pro-rata payout eligibility for all 8 Australian states and territories.
Already know your LSL payout amount and just need the tax? Use the Unused Leave Tax Calculator for the Schedule 7 breakdown.
Leaving your job? Unused annual leave is paid out too — including 17.5% loading where your award provides it. See the Annual Leave Loading Calculator .
01 —INPUTS
Long service leave is state and territory legislation, not a national scheme
Ordinary pay for normal hours — excludes overtime and penalty rates
Used only to work out pro-rata payout eligibility if employment has ended
02 —RESULTS
Accrued Long Service Leave6.9333 wks
Accrued value$10,400.00
Status
Not yet takeable as leave — full entitlement matures at 10 years (2.0 years to go). A pro-rata payout may already be available on termination, depending on why employment ends.
Payout eligibility (Still employed)
PayoutNot applicable — still employed
New South Wales rule: LSL accrues at 0.8667 weeks per year of service (8.6667 weeks at 10 years) under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW). Pro-rata is payable for any reason from 10 years and for qualifying reasons (employer-terminated (other than for serious and wilful misconduct); resignation due to illness, incapacity, domestic or other pressing necessity; or death) from 5 years.
Awards, enterprise agreements and employment contracts can provide more than these statutory minimums. This does not calculate tax on a payout — see the Unused Leave Tax Calculator for that.
Every state and territory has its own Long Service Leave Act. The accrual rate, the year full entitlement matures, and the rules for a pro-rata payout on early termination all differ.
State
Full entitlement
First takeable
Pro-rata (any reason)
Pro-rata (qualifying reason)
Resignation before threshold
New South Wales
8.6667 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
10 yrs
5 yrs (qualifying reasons only)
Not eligible until full entitlement
Victoria
6.0667 wks @ 7 yrs
7 yrs
7 yrs
—
Not eligible until full entitlement
Queensland
8.6667 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
10 yrs
7 yrs (qualifying reasons only)
Not eligible until full entitlement
Western Australia
8.6667 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
7 yrs
—
Eligible from 7 yrs
South Australia
13.0 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
7 yrs
—
Eligible from 7 yrs
Tasmania
8.6667 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
10 yrs
7 yrs (qualifying reasons only)
Not eligible until full entitlement
Australian Capital Territory
6.0667 wks @ 7 yrs
7 yrs
7 yrs
5 yrs (qualifying reasons only)
Not eligible until full entitlement
Northern Territory
13.0 wks @ 10 yrs
10 yrs
10 yrs
7 yrs (qualifying reasons only)
Not eligible until full entitlement
Accrual rate: NSW / QLD / WA / TAS / ACT use 13/15 of a week per year of service (≈ 0.8667 wk/yr); SA / NT use 1.3 weeks per year. All 8 jurisdictions accrue in a straight line — there is no separate calculation branch for NSW's alternative "3 months per 15 years" termination-band wording, since 13 weeks per 15 years is arithmetically the same 13/15 rate.
What counts as ordinary pay
Long service leave is paid at your ordinary pay, but the 8 Acts do not agree on what that contains. Overtime is the only component excluded everywhere. Enter the rate your own jurisdiction's row describes — each row below is taken from that jurisdiction's own Act or regulator, not from a national summary.
State
Overtime
Penalty rates
Casual loading
Board / lodging
New South Wales
Excluded
Excluded
Included
Not stated
Victoria
Excluded
Excluded
Included
Included
Queensland
Excluded
Not stated
Included
Not stated
Western Australia
Excluded
Excluded
Included
Included
South Australia
Excluded
Excluded
Included
Included
Tasmania
Excluded
Included
Included
Included
Australian Capital Territory
Excluded
Excluded
Not stated
Included
Northern Territory
Excluded
Excluded
Not stated
Not stated
Not stated means that jurisdiction's Act and regulator take no published position on that component — it does not mean the component is excluded. Where you see it, check with your employer or your state or territory's LSL regulator rather than assuming.
NSWOrdinary pay excludes overtime, shift-work and other penalty rates, but casual loading is included. Source
VICOrdinary pay is the actual ordinary time rate received and does not normally include allowances, penalty or occasional overtime rates. A casual employee's ordinary rate includes the casual loading, and ordinary pay includes the cash value of any board or lodging. Source
QLDOrdinary pay is the current ordinary rate excluding overtime payments; Business Queensland publishes no position on penalty rates. A casual employee's LSL is paid at their loaded casual hourly rate. Source
WAOrdinary pay excludes shift premiums, overtime, penalty rates, allowances and any similar payments; it includes casual loading and the cash value of board and lodging not taken during the leave. Source
SAThe ordinary weekly rate of pay is exclusive of overtime, shift premiums and penalty rates, but a casual is expressly not regarded as being paid at a penalty rate, and employer-provided accommodation not available during the leave is added to the rate. Source
TASOrdinary pay includes shift penalties, part-time and casual loadings, all-purpose award allowances and the cash value of board and lodging; it excludes overtime, award special rates, travel, bonuses, living-away-from-home and meal allowances. Source
ACTOrdinary remuneration is salary or wages plus skill, qualification and board-and-lodging allowances and bonuses; salary or wages excludes overtime, penalty rates and award allowances not counted towards overtime. Source
NTThe usual rate of pay excludes overtime, penalty rates and district, site and climatic allowances. Source
Worked examples
VIC, 12 years of service, still employed, $1,900/week ordinary pay
Accrual12 years × 52/60 wk/yr
Accrued LSL10.4 weeks
Accrued value$19,760
StatusTakeable as leave now (7-year threshold reached)
SA, 8 years of service, resigned, $1,600/week ordinary pay
Accrual8 years × 1.3 wk/yr
Accrued LSL10.4 weeks
Payout eligibilityEligible — SA allows any-reason pro-rata payout from 7 years
Payout value$16,640
Both examples work out to the same 10.4 weeks of accrued leave, but only the SA resignation example is paid out immediately — the VIC employee is still working, so their 10.4 weeks stays accrued and takeable as leave rather than being cashed out.
Tax on a long service leave payout
This calculator does not compute tax — it only works out how many weeks of LSL you've accrued and whether a payout is available. When unused LSL is paid out on termination, the ATO taxes it under Schedule 7 lump-sum rules: the applicable rate depends on when the leave accrued (LSL has three different accrual-period tax treatments) and whether your termination is a genuine redundancy, in which case the redundancy portion of your total payment may instead get concessional Lump Sum A / ETP treatment.
This calculator applies the general state and territory Long Service Leave Acts. It does not cover portable industry LSL schemes (e.g. QLeave in QLD, NT Build, ACT's portable schemes, or SA's community services scheme from 1 October 2025), Tasmania's separate mining-industry rule (1.3 weeks per year of service with a 5-year threshold under s8A), federal or state public servants (who have separate LSL arrangements), or award and enterprise-agreement LSL clauses that may improve on the statutory minimum. Always check your specific award, agreement or contract, and confirm details with your state or territory industrial relations regulator.
FAQ
How many weeks of long service leave do I get in each state?
NSW, QLD, WA and TAS give 8.6667 weeks at 10 years of continuous service. SA and NT give 13.0 weeks at 10 years. VIC and ACT give 6.0667 weeks at 7 years. All jurisdictions accrue leave on a straight-line basis from the first day of employment — the entitlement year is simply when it matures.
Can I get long service leave if I resign?
It depends on your state and how many years you've worked. In NSW, QLD, TAS and NT, plain resignation only qualifies for a pro-rata payout once you reach 10 years of service — resigning earlier gets nothing, though resigning due to illness or pressing necessity can qualify from 5-7 years. In VIC, WA and SA, resignation for any reason qualifies for a pro-rata payout once you reach 7 years.
Why does ACT use a 7-year threshold instead of 10?
The Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) sets 7 years as the point LSL becomes fully accessible, matching Victoria's 7-year threshold rather than the 10-year threshold used in NSW, QLD, WA, TAS, SA and NT. Both ACT and VIC also allow a pro-rata payout below that threshold under their respective qualifying-reasons or any-reason rules.
Do casual employees accrue long service leave?
Yes — casual and regular part-time employees accrue LSL on the same continuous-service basis as full-time employees in every state and territory, provided the employment relationship is genuinely continuous (regular breaks between engagements with the same employer generally still count). In NSW, Victoria, QLD, WA, SA and TAS, casual loading is included when working out the ordinary pay rate used for a casual employee's LSL payment — so enter your loaded rate, not your base rate. The ACT and NT publish no position either way: their LSL Acts and regulators define ordinary pay without mentioning casual loading at all, so check with your employer or your territory's LSL regulator before assuming it is in or out.
How is the pay rate for long service leave worked out?
Long service leave is paid at your ordinary rate of pay for normal hours of work in all 8 jurisdictions, and overtime is the only component excluded everywhere. Nothing else is uniform. Penalty rates are left out in NSW, Victoria, WA, SA, the ACT and NT, but Tasmania expressly counts shift penalties in, and Queensland publishes no position on them at all. Board, lodging or employer-provided accommodation is added to ordinary pay in Victoria, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT. Bonuses split the other way — the ACT counts them in and Tasmania expressly excludes them. See the ordinary-pay table above for your jurisdiction. Some states use your rate at the time you take leave; others average it over a recent period if your hours or pay have varied, so check your state or territory's industrial relations regulator for the averaging rule that applies to you.
Is a long service leave payout taxed?
Yes. Unused long service leave paid out on termination is assessable income taxed under ATO Schedule 7 lump-sum rules — the rate depends on when the leave accrued and whether the termination was a genuine redundancy. See the Unused Leave Tax Calculator for the full breakdown, or the Redundancy Tax Calculator if you were made redundant.
What are portable long service leave schemes?
Some industries — building and construction, community services, contract cleaning and security in various states — run portable LSL schemes (e.g. QLeave in QLD, NT Build, ACT's portable schemes, SA's community services scheme from 1 October 2025) where entitlements follow the worker between employers in that industry, rather than resetting with each new employer. This calculator covers the general state and territory LSL Acts, not industry portable schemes, award-specific LSL clauses, federal or state public servants, or Tasmania's separate mining-industry LSL rule (1.3 weeks per year with a 5-year threshold under s8A).
Tax Accuracy & Sources
Reviewed: March 2026 · Tax year: 2026-27
Calculates long service leave accrual and pro-rata payout eligibility under the general state and territory Long Service Leave Acts only — it does not calculate tax on a payout (see the Unused Leave Tax Calculator for that), and does not cover portable industry schemes, Tasmania's mining-industry rule, public servants, or award/agreement clauses above the statutory minimum.
