Traditionally, long service leave has been an additional paid period of leave that employees have been entitled to as a result of working at a single company for a certain number of years. For many employees working in the community service industry (CSI), they may not have remained at the one company for long enough to accrue long service leave for a variety of reasons.
Following a review of this industry, as of 1 July 2025 the NSW government introduced a Portable Long Service Leave scheme based on paid work within the CSI, as opposed to work for a single employer.
As an employer, if your business is classified within this industry, your obligations regarding long service leave toward your employees has changed, and it is important to be aware of how this scheme must be managed moving forward.
Employer Registration
All eligible CSI employers need to apply for registration to the Long Service Corporation via the below MyServiceNSW account between 1 and 31 July 2025:
Compliance Obligations
Based on the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024, the compliance obligations are seen as below:
Employers must:
- Register as an employer
- Submit quarterly service returns
- Pay the quarterly levy (1.7% of gross ordinary wages)
- Keep relevant records
Fines between $55 and $550 may be the result if there is failure to comply.
Work Service Records
For each employee, the below must be kept as a record:
- Name & date of birth
- Phone number and address
- Work registration number if the employee is registered with LSC
- Type of work carried out
- Gross ordinary wages for each return period (quarter)
- Number of days worked in each return period (quarter)
- Dates of employment & termination
- Copy of employment contract
- Long service leave granted
- Pro rata payment details (if made instead of long service leave when they stopped working)
Employer Service Returns
The following information is required to be submitted in a service return for registered employers:
- Phone number & email address
- Total amount of gross ordinary wages paid during the return period
- Start & finish date (if applicable)
The first three service returns (Jul to Sep 2025, Oct to Dec 2025, and Jan to Mar 2026) and associated levy payments are due in April 2026.
Individual returns will be required for each quarter between July 2025 and March 2026.
Following April 2026, employers will need to submit service returns and levy payments on a quarterly basis.
Currently, a service return excel template has been provided for lodging service returns until the employer portal is developed, which is due to be available from April 2026.
Levy Payments & Due Dates
A 14-day deadline has been implemented to submit all levy payments.
Below displays an indication of expected levy payment due dates (Note: Dates may change and are for indicative purposes only):
| Return period | Levy due |
| 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026 | TBC April 2026 |
| April 2026 to 30 June 2026 | 14 July 2026 |
| 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026 | 14 October 2026 |
| 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026 | 14 January 2027 |
Long Service Leave (LSL) Entitlements Pre-1 July 2025
Existing accrued LSL entitlements must continue to be honoured under the 1955 Act and will not transfer into the new scheme.
For employers paying LSL utilising a mix of portable LSL and LSL accrued under the 1955 Act, reimbursement will need to be sought by the employer from the Long Service Leave Corporation after calculating and paying the period of LSL in full. Thus, it is recommended to calculate the LSL balance of current employees to ensure any existing entitlements are provisioned for.
It is important that employers understand and adhere to these changes to avoid noncompliance and potential fines.
If you would like assistance, or more information regarding these changes please contact us via the below link.