Working interstate and your long service leave

Make sure you understand how state and territory long service schemes work if you want to maintain your registration in NSW. 

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If you are a building and construction worker and working outside of NSW

Each state territory has their own long service schemes that are party to a national agreement. This allows service recorded by workers in more than one state to be added together to establish eligibility for a long service benefit or payment.

If you are an employer and pay an associated levy

Employers who operate nationally should:

  • register with the relevant scheme of each state or territory where they have employees
  • submit the appropriate advice of their workers' service to the long service scheme in that state or territory with the correct registration number for the worker.

If you are a contract cleaner and working outside of NSW

We cover cleaning work performed in NSW.

You can find similar portable long service schemes for the contract cleaning industry in:

  • Queensland
  • Victoria
  • the ACT.

Service recorded with another portable long service scheme may be used to maintain your NSW registration and calculate your entitlement for long service payments.

Registering as a building and construction worker outside of NSW 

Workers in the building and construction industry should register with the long service scheme in each state they work. Worker registration and employer compliance in each state will ensure that workers receive full credit for their work in the various state or territory industries.

If you are an employer

If you are an employer and have long-term employees who become eligible for long service, you will be able to apply for a compensating payment from us which can include interstate service.

You must advise us before you pay any long service benefit to a worker via the Employer Portal. See paying long service leave in the building and construction industry.

Workers will also have the benefit of having all service in the different schemes counted towards establishing their entitlement.

Getting your service recorded as a contract cleaner if you are working outside of NSW

Your registration may be cancelled if you have no recognised service on your NSW registration for more than 4 consecutive financial years.

If you are working outside NSW and accumulating service in a portable long service scheme in another Australian state or territory, keep us informed so your registration is not cancelled. 

You can do this by:

  • sending us a copy of your statement every year, or
  • if you’re working in a state or territory where there’s no portable long service scheme, send us a letter from your employer confirming your employment in the contract cleaning industry each year.

Maintaining your registration as a building and construction worker

Although reciprocal agreements exist, the rules of the schemes are not the same with some differences relating to the:

  • types of work covered
  • minimum claiming periods, and
  • calculation of payments.

What this means is if you register and accumulate service in NSW, the same work in another state may not be recognised and you may not be able to register in the long service scheme of another state. For example, contractors performing building and construction work are not eligible to belong to long service schemes in all other states as they are in NSW.

Long service schemes and Commonwealth places

Workers cannot record service credits for any work at Commonwealth places if registered in the:

  • NSW Building and Construction Industry Long Service Payment Scheme
  • NSW Community Services Industry Portable Long Service Leave Scheme, and
  • NSW Contract Cleaning Industry Long Service Leave Scheme.

Commonwealth places fall under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth (federal) Government where the Commonwealth:

  • owns a long-term lease, or
  • holds a long-term lease.

Find more information on Commonwealth places.

AusLeave

Ausleave provides centralised access to information about each state and territory's scheme. Visit AusLeave to update your contact details with schemes across Australia.

Long service schemes in other states and territories

Related information

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