The scheme carries the same name in all eight jurisdictions and does the same job. Who pays it, what it is calculated on and when it falls due are different in almost every one.
Portable long service leave exists because construction is project work. Workers move between employers, and under ordinary long service leave law that movement resets the clock. Every state and territory runs a scheme that fixes this by recording service to the industry rather than service to one employer, and the schemes recognise each other, so days accrued in one jurisdiction count in another.
That much is consistent across the country. Almost nothing else is.
The schemes do not share a funding model. Three jurisdictions charge the project. Five charge the payroll. A builder operating on both sides of that line is paying into the same national system through two entirely different mechanisms, on two different clocks, out of two different lines in the budget.
Three jurisdictions charge the project and five charge the payroll
New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory attach the levy to the job. It is calculated on the cost of the work, it is generally payable by the person the work is being done for, and it falls due once, before construction starts.
Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia attach the charge to the wages bill. It is calculated on what the employer pays covered workers, it is payable by the employer, and it recurs every month, every two months or every quarter for as long as those workers are employed.
In every jurisdiction, employer registration is compulsory, whichever model applies. Several schemes attach real consequences to failure. LeavePlus states that lodging a Victorian return late is a criminal offence that can be prosecuted, and MyLeave applies fines and surcharges to unpaid Western Australian contributions. The difference between jurisdictions is not whether a builder has an obligation. It is what the obligation costs and when.
| Jurisdiction | Model | Rate | Charged on | Who pays and when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Project | 0.25% | Cost of works including GST, $250,000 and above | Approval applicant or person the work is for, before work starts |
| Qld | Project | 0.35% within a 0.575% combined levy | Cost of work excluding GST, $150,000 and above | Person the work is done for, before the development permit issues |
| NT | Project | 0.1% | Cost of construction work, $1m to $5bn | Person the work is for, before construction starts |
| ACT | Wages | 2.75% | Gross ordinary wages | Employer, quarterly |
| Vic | Wages | 2.7% | Ordinary pay | Employer, quarterly |
| Tas | Wages | 2.5%, or 1.8% if lodged and paid on time | Ordinary pay | Employer, monthly |
| SA | Wages | 2.0% | Remuneration | Employer, every two months |
| WA | Wages | 0.75% for 2026 | Ordinary pay | Employer, quarterly |
In the project levy jurisdictions the money moves before work starts
New South Wales charges 0.25 per cent of the cost of building and construction work of $250,000 or more including GST. The Long Service Corporation states it is paid by the applicant for the building approval, or the person the work is being completed for. Work cannot begin until it is paid, and a council or accredited certifier cannot release a construction certificate or complying development certificate until it is. Instalments are available where the cost of works exceeds $10 million and the job will run more than twelve months. Owner builders, churches and non profit organisations can apply for a partial exemption, capped at a 50 per cent discount, with a minimum levy of $50.
Queensland charges a combined 0.575 per cent on work costing $150,000 or more excluding GST. Only part of that funds long service leave. QLeave splits it three ways: 0.35 per cent to portable long service leave, 0.125 per cent to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and 0.1 per cent to Construction Skills Queensland for industry training. It must be paid before a development permit issues for building work, plumbing and drainage work or operational work, or before work starts where no permit is required.
The Northern Territory charges 0.1 per cent on projects valued between $1 million and $5 billion. NT Build states it is payable by the person for whom the work is to be done, except on Australian Government and interstate government work, where the principal contractor is liable. The levy is self assessed on estimated total cost before construction starts and reconciled against the actual figure at practical completion, which can produce an additional levy or a refund. The $1 million floor puts most detached residential work in the Territory outside the scheme.
In all three, the person legally liable is usually the client rather than the builder. The cost does not disappear because of that. It sits in a different column and is disclosed to a different party, which is a separate question from whether it has been priced at all.
The cost of work is wider than the contract sum
This is where the project levy catches people out, and Queensland spells it out most clearly.
QLeave defines the cost of work as the total of all costs, direct and indirect, that relate to the building and construction work. That takes in labour and materials, and it specifically includes materials supplied by the owner. It also takes in plant, equipment, design, project management, consultancy, prefabricated goods, commissioning and installation. QLeave notes that indirect costs incurred well before a builder is appointed, including town planning and fees for design, engineers and quantity surveyors, are the ones most often left out of a notification.
The figure does not stop moving once notified. If the final cost of a Queensland job rises by $50,000 or more, the person the work was done for must notify QLeave within 30 days of the work ending and pay the additional levy. If it falls by $20,000 or more, or drops below the $150,000 threshold, a partial or full refund may be available.
In the other five jurisdictions the cost sits in payroll
There is no project threshold in the wages levy jurisdictions. If a builder employs a covered worker, the charge applies from the first dollar of ordinary pay, on every job, for as long as the worker is on the books.
The rates are not close to one another. The Australian Capital Territory is highest at 2.75 per cent of gross ordinary wages. Victoria charges 2.7 per cent, a rate LeavePlus says has been unchanged since 1 July 2009. Tasmania charges 2.5 per cent, discounted to 1.8 per cent for employers who lodge returns and pay contribution invoices by the due dates. South Australia charges 2 per cent of remuneration. Western Australia charges 0.75 per cent for 2026.
Western Australia is worth a second look, because the number is not stable. MyLeave resets it annually against wage data, workforce demographics and financial projections. Across the past twenty years it has ranged from 2.25 per cent down to 0.10 per cent, apart from a COVID relief rate of 0.01 per cent set in July 2020. MyLeave also states that at 0.75 per cent the levy sits below the estimated long term cost of entitlements, which it puts at around 1.1 per cent a year, with the gap met from investment returns. In 2025 the scheme reported $34.4 million in levy income against $46.7 million paid out in worker benefits, and a 10.8 per cent investment return on $673 million in cash and investments.
Apprentices are treated differently again. LeavePlus charges nothing for certified apprentices and carries the liability for up to four years. Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory also exempt apprentices, with the ACT requiring a copy of the training contract.
For a builder in Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra or Perth, portable long service leave is a recurring payroll liability that behaves like superannuation. For a builder in Sydney, Brisbane or Darwin it behaves like a planning fee.
The reporting calendar is different in almost every jurisdiction
New South Wales and Queensland, the two large project levy states, ask employers for a service return once a year, and the Northern Territory asks for one twice a year. Queensland’s is due by 31 July, and a nil return is required even where no eligible workers were engaged. QLeave also requires service to be lodged for sole trader subcontractors providing substantially labour only service, and for workers engaged through labour hire.
The wages levy jurisdictions want returns far more often, because in those schemes the return is the invoice. Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia run quarterly, with Western Australia’s due within fifteen days of the end of each period. South Australia issues returns every two months. Tasmania is monthly, due within fourteen days of the end of each return period, with quarterly reporting available on application.
Which puts the practical difference in a sentence. In New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory, portable long service leave is a service return once or twice a year plus a one off charge on the job. Everywhere else it is a standing payroll obligation with a lodgement deadline attached, and in Tasmania that deadline is worth 0.7 percentage points.
Two schemes will refund a payment the employer has already made
Portable schemes sit alongside ordinary long service leave law rather than replacing it. A worker who stays with the same employer for ten years or more can have an entitlement under both, and can choose which one to take.
New South Wales and Queensland both allow the employer to claim reimbursement where they pay that entitlement directly, and both require notice first. In New South Wales the employer must tell the Long Service Corporation before paying the worker. In Queensland the employer must notify QLeave before the worker takes leave, then lodge the reimbursement claim within three months, and no later than two years, of the day the payment was made.
Where the worker takes the payment from the scheme instead, the employer carries no further long service liability for that period of service.
What a worker actually gets is not uniform either
Ten years of recorded service does not buy the same leave everywhere. New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia pay 8.67 weeks. South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory pay 13 weeks. Victoria works on a shorter qualifying period, with LeavePlus allowing a claim at seven years of recorded service.
Accrual caps differ too. Queensland and Western Australia both cap recorded service at 220 days a year, so a worker who puts in 260 days across several employers still records 220.
Project levy and wages levy
Two funding models operate under the name portable long service leave. A project levy is charged once on the cost of a construction job, is generally payable by the person the work is being done for, and falls due before work starts. New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory use this model. A wages levy is charged to the employer as a percentage of the ordinary pay of covered workers, has no project threshold, and falls due monthly, every two months or quarterly depending on the jurisdiction. Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory use this model. Worker entitlements are portable across both models under reciprocal agreements between the schemes.
The vocabulary is identical and the mechanics are not
None of this is hidden. It is all published, and every scheme runs a calculator. The difficulty is that the language is the same in all eight jurisdictions while the mechanics underneath it are not, which makes the error hard to see until an invoice arrives.
A builder who has worked in one state for twenty years has a correct mental model of portable long service leave. It is correct for one jurisdiction.
The moment a job crosses a border, three questions decide where the cost lands: who is legally liable, what the charge is calculated on, and when it falls due. In three jurisdictions the answer sits with the client before a slab is poured. In the other five it sits in payroll for as long as the business employs anyone.
THE GOOD BUILDER TAKE
The mistake worth guarding against is not underpaying a levy. Both models are enforced, both are checkable, and every scheme publishes its numbers. The mistake is quoting a job in one jurisdiction using the cost structure of another and finding the difference after the contract is signed.
A Queensland job carries a levy on indirect costs that a Victorian builder has never had to think about, because in Victoria the charge lands on wages and the client never sees it. A Victorian job carries a standing payroll charge that a Queensland builder has never budgeted for, because in Queensland the client pays once and it is done. Both builders are correct about their own state.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the jurisdiction. In New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory the levy is charged on the project and is generally payable by the person the work is being done for, which in a domestic build is usually the client. In Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory the charge is paid by the employer as a percentage of what it pays covered workers. Employers must register and report in all eight jurisdictions regardless of which model applies.
QLeave levies the person for whom the building and construction work is done, on work costing $150,000 or more excluding GST. The combined rate is 0.575 per cent, of which 0.35 per cent funds portable long service leave, 0.125 per cent goes to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and 0.1 per cent goes to Construction Skills Queensland. It must be paid before a development permit issues, or before work starts where no permit is required. Queensland employers separately lodge an annual worker service return by 31 July, but pay no levy on wages.
No. The Long Service Corporation states that the scheme is free to eligible employers. New South Wales funds portable long service leave through a levy of 0.25 per cent on the cost of building and construction works of $250,000 or more including GST, paid before work starts by the approval applicant or the person the work is for. Employers still have to register and lodge an annual service return, and penalties apply if they do not. Before 1 January 2023 the levy was 0.35 per cent on works of $25,000 and above.
On the project side, New South Wales is 0.25 per cent above $250,000 including GST, Queensland is 0.35 per cent within a 0.575 per cent combined levy above $150,000 excluding GST, and the Northern Territory is 0.1 per cent above $1 million. On the wages side, the Australian Capital Territory is 2.75 per cent, Victoria is 2.7 per cent, Tasmania is 2.5 per cent or 1.8 per cent for employers who lodge and pay on time, South Australia is 2 per cent and Western Australia is 0.75 per cent for 2026. The wages rates are set by each scheme board and reviewed periodically, so the rate current at the date of pricing is the one that applies.
In New South Wales and Queensland, yes, where a worker who qualifies under ordinary long service leave law takes the entitlement from the employer rather than the scheme. Both require notice before the payment is made. In New South Wales the employer must notify the Long Service Corporation first. In Queensland the employer must notify QLeave before the worker takes leave, then lodge the claim within three months and no later than two years of the payment date. Where the worker takes payment from the scheme instead, the employer carries no further long service liability for that period.
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Last updated 14 September 2026. Rates, thresholds and reporting deadlines were verified against each administering scheme on 10 September 2026. Contribution rates in the wages levy jurisdictions are set by scheme boards and reviewed periodically. Western Australia resets its rate annually.
General information only. This article is intended for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, tax or professional advice. Portable long service leave obligations depend on the jurisdiction, the type of work and the nature of each worker engagement, and the rules change. Confirm your position with the relevant scheme or a qualified adviser before relying on anything set out here.
Author: TGB Editorial
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