Being casual or part-time does not stop you building long service leave. Every state and territory counts that service, as long as it is continuous with the same employer. The questions that decide your amount are different: whether the gaps between engagements break the service, and what weekly hours your pay is based on when they changed over the years.
What each Act says about casuals
| Where you work | Casual and part-time service | Hours your pay is based on |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | casual and part-time service, if continuous | average weekly hours over 12 months or 5 years (LSL Act 1955 (NSW) s 3(2A)) |
| Victoria | casual and seasonal employees | the greatest of the 52-week, 260-week and overall averages (LSL Act 2018 (Vic) s 15(2), s 16(2)) |
| Queensland | casual service, continuous unless a gap exceeds 3 months | at least a minimum built from the ordinary hours actually worked over the whole service (IR Act 2016 (Qld) s 105(2)–(3)) |
| WA | casual and seasonal employees | average weekly hours worked over the period (LSL Act 1958 (WA) s 7(2)) |
| SA | casual workers, who can accrue leave | average weekly hours over the last 3 years (LSL Act 1987 (SA) s 3(2)(b)) |
| Tasmania | casuals, continuous with 32 hours in each 4 weeks | average weekly hours over the previous 12 months (LSL Act 1976 (Tas) s 11(6)) |
| ACT | part-time and casual employees | average weekly hours over the 12 months before entitlement (LSL Act 1976 (ACT) s 7(2)) |
| NT | full-time, part-time and casual employees | average weekly hours in each year of service (LSL Act 1981 (NT) s 11(1)) |
South Australia's coverage wording comes from the SafeWork SA guide rather than the Act. Coal mining casuals are under a separate national scheme, where casuals count for each week they are eligible; the portable schemes page covers it.
When gaps between shifts break your service
A casual roster has gaps by nature: weeks with no shifts, a season off, a contract that ends and another that starts. Each Act has its own test for whether a gap ends your continuous service or only pauses it. The rules below are the general ones on re-employment and interruptions; they apply to casuals as much as anyone, and two Acts add a test written for casual work.
- Queensland counts casual service, continuous unless a gap exceeds 3 months (IR Act 2016 (Qld) s 103(2)–(3)).
- Tasmania has a deeming rule written for regular casual work. It covers casuals, continuous with 32 hours in each 4 weeks (LSL Act 1976 (Tas) s 5(3)).
- In Victoria, service is not broken by re-employment within 12 weeks (LSL Act 2018 (Vic) s 12(6)).
- In Western Australia, service is not broken by re-employment within 2 months, or 6 for slackness of trade (LSL Act 1958 (WA) s 6(4)).
- In New South Wales, service the employer ended or interrupted is not broken if the worker returns or is re-employed within 2 months (LSL Act 1955 (NSW) s 4(11)(a1)(vii)). Those gaps keep the service unbroken but are not counted as service. A worker who resigns and comes back is not covered by that rule.
- In South Australia, service survives a return within 2 months after an employer-made break (LSL Act 1987 (SA) s 6(1)(i)).
- In the ACT, service survives a return within 2 months of an interruption (LSL Act 1976 (ACT) s 2G(2)(e)).
- In the Northern Territory, service survives re-employment within 2 months of an interruption (LSL Act 1981 (NT) s 12(4)(e)). Its government page adds that there is no accrual during workers compensation or unpaid leave.
A gap that does not break service is usually not counted as service either, so it delays the date your entitlement arises without resetting it. The calculator takes those weeks as unpaid breaks.
How pay is worked out when your hours vary
Long service leave is paid at ordinary pay for your normal weekly hours. If your hours were never fixed, the Act supplies a number by averaging the hours you actually worked over a set period, and the period chosen changes the result. A casual who has just picked up more shifts does better under a short window; one whose hours have dropped does better under a long one.
- Victoria takes the greatest of three averages, so a recent fall in hours does not pull the figure down.
- New South Wales takes the greater of the average weekly hours over 12 months or 5 years. Nobody chooses between them, and the rule works the same way for a worker whose hours fell.
- Queensland sets a floor built from every ordinary hour actually worked across the whole service.
- Western Australia averages over the whole period, South Australia over the preceding years shown in the table, and Tasmania and the ACT over the last year.
- The Northern Territory averages year by year and pays each completed year on its own hours.
Worked example: a Tasmanian casual with uneven shifts
You started casually at a café on 2 February 2015, with shifts ranging from a few hours to full days, and take your leave after 11 years of continuous service. The Act gives 8⅔ weeks after 10 years. Your payslips show 1,404 hours in the last year before the leave, and WorkSafe Tasmania describes the method for varying hours as total hours over the past 12 months divided by 52 (WorkSafe Tasmania).
If your ordinary hourly rate is $34.50, including the casual loading, the pay for the whole period of leave comes to $8,073.00 (our arithmetic: 8⅔ weeks after 10 years × 1404 ÷ 52 × $34.50 = $8,073.00). Whether the gaps between your shifts broke your service is a separate question: it turns on the deeming rule for Tasmania listed above, which is measured period by period, so the year's total alone does not answer it.
Worked example: a Victorian casual whose hours fell
You worked casually for the same employer from 6 August 2018 and start long service leave on 6 August 2025, after 7 years of continuous employment, with no paid or unpaid leave along the way. Your records show 1,040 hours in the last 52 weeks, 6,500 hours in the last 260 weeks and 9,100 hours over the whole 364 weeks. The Act takes your normal weekly hours as the greatest of the 52-week, 260-week and overall averages, so the recent drop does not lower them.
At an ordinary hourly rate of $32.00, the leave, at 1/60 of the period of continuous employment, comes to $4,853.33 (our arithmetic: 1/60 × 52 × completed years from 6 August 2018 to 6 August 2025 × (the greatest of 1040 ÷ 52 = 20, 6500 ÷ 260 = 25 and 9100 ÷ 364 = 25) × $32.00 = $4,853.33) in all, taking a year as 52 weeks. Had the Act used only the last year's hours, the figure would be lower; the greatest of the three averages is the one that applies.
South Australia also has a separate rule for pay by commission or results: average weekly earnings over 12 months.
Is the casual loading included?
WorkSafe Tasmania describes ordinary pay as pay including shift penalties and casual loading (WorkSafe Tasmania). The New South Wales guide leaves out of ordinary pay shift work, overtime, penalty rates and expense allowances. Western Australia's Act leaves out shift premiums, overtime, penalty rates and allowances. For the other Acts, the definition of ordinary pay is on each state page.
Moving between full-time, part-time and casual
Changing your basis of work does not restart your service with the same employer. What it changes is the pay. Without a rule, a worker who went from full-time to part-time near the end of a long career would be paid all the leave at part-time hours. Several Acts deal with this directly:
- The ACT has a rule for this case: for someone who moved to part-time, ordinary pay can be based on wages over the last 5 years divided by 5.
- Victoria's greatest-of-three average, set out in the table, protects a worker whose hours dropped late in the service.
- New South Wales applies the greater of its two averages, which protects a worker whose hours dropped late in the service in the same way.
- Queensland's minimum amount applies to anyone who was casual or regular part-time at any time in the service, and is based on every ordinary hour actually worked.
Where the hours or the averaging period are in dispute, the regulator named on each state page explains how it reads its Act.
Sources
- Long Service Leave Act 1955, NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 2018, Victorian Government (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Industrial Relations Act 2016, Queensland Government (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1958, Government of Western Australia (Parliamentary Counsel). Checked .
- Who is entitled to long service leave?, SafeWork SA. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1987, South Australian Legislation. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1976, Tasmanian Legislation Online. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1976, ACT Legislation Register. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Act 1981, Northern Territory Legislation. Checked .
- Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992, Federal Register of Legislation. Checked .
- Long service leave, Northern Territory Government. Checked .
- Long service leave, WorkSafe Tasmania. Checked .
- Long Service Leave Guide, NSW Industrial Relations. Checked .