Portable Long Service Leave in SA, TAS, ACT and NT Compared

What it is

The four smaller jurisdictions each run their own portable long service leave scheme for construction. They are not variations of one another. Three charge the employer a percentage of wages. One charges the project.

• South Australia: Construction Industry Long Service Leave Act 1987 (SA), run by the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Board and branded Portable Long Service Leave
• Tasmania: Construction Industry (Long Service) Act 1997 (Tas), run by TasBuild Ltd as trustee of the Construction Industry Long Service Fund
• Australian Capital Territory: Long Service Leave (Portable Schemes) Act 2009 (ACT), run by ACT Leave
• Northern Territory: Construction Industry Long Service Leave and Benefits Act 2005 (NT), run by NT Build

The structural split

Every scheme in the country is one of two things, and this is the fact worth carrying:

• Contribution schemes charge the employer a percentage of each worker's ordinary pay on a periodic return. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT
• Levy schemes charge the project a percentage of the cost of the work, once, before it starts. New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory

A builder who moves from Darwin to Adelaide moves from a scheme that took its money off the job to a scheme that takes it off the payroll. Nobody sends a reminder.

South Australia

South Australia is a contribution scheme. Employers remit 2 per cent of the total wages paid to covered workers and lodge a return every two months rather than every quarter.

Registration is compulsory for any individual, partnership, company or trust employing workers who do building, electrical or metal trades work for at least 3 days in any month, each day being at least 5 hours long, where those workers are predominantly on site.

A worker who accrues 2,600 service days, the equivalent of 10 years full time in the industry, is entitled to 13 weeks of long service leave paid by the Board.

Tasmania

Tasmania is a contribution scheme with a compliance discount built into the rate.

The standard contribution is 2.5 per cent of the ordinary pay of employees in relevant employment. Employers who lodge returns and pay invoices by the due date pay a discounted 1.8 per cent instead. Returns run monthly by default.

A worker qualifies at 2,600 days of reported relevant employment, with a maximum of 260 days credited in a year, and TasBuild funds up to 13 weeks of leave.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT is a contribution scheme. Employers register with ACT Leave and pay a levy of 2.75 per cent of the gross ordinary wages of covered employees. Apprentices are levy free where the training contract has been given to ACT Leave.

Workers registered on or after 1 January 1997 get 13 weeks of portable long service leave after 10 years of recorded service, then 1.3 weeks of leave for every year after that.

Contractors, working directors, sole traders and individual partners can contribute voluntarily to accrue service in their own right. Their benefit comes out as a payment rather than as leave.

Northern Territory

The NT is a levy scheme, and the only one of the four.

NT Build charges 0.1 per cent of the total cost of construction work including GST on projects costing between 1 million dollars and 5 billion dollars. The levy is paid by the person the work is being done for, except on Commonwealth or interstate government work where the principal contractor pays it. It must be paid before construction starts.

Three exemptions matter to residential builders:

• single detached dwellings, including the private garage, carport and shed that go with them
• any work where the total contract price is under 1 million dollars
• voluntary labour or donated materials for not-for-profit organisations

The levy payer self-assesses the estimated cost up front and reconciles the actual cost at practical completion. Interest and fines apply for non-payment, and NT Build can order work to stop until the levy is paid.

A registered NT worker is credited with up to 220 days of qualifying service each financial year and earns 6.5 days of leave credit for each 220 days. At 65 days of credit, being 10 years, the worker can claim 13 weeks.

Reciprocal recognition and what to do

All eight schemes recognise each other. Service recorded in one jurisdiction counts toward a claim in another under the national reciprocal agreement, which only works if the service was reported in the first place.

• Work out which of the two structures applies before you price the job
• In SA, TAS and the ACT, treat the contribution as a wage on-cost, not a project cost
• In the NT, notify the project and pay the levy before work starts, then reconcile the final cost
• Ask any interstate hire for their scheme registration number at induction