Long service leave in Western Australia (2026–27): 8.67 weeks after 10 years

Accrued weeks and payout on $1,500/week

The state where the Act was rewritten most recently

Western Australia gives 8.67 weeks at 10 years and a conditional pro-rata from 7, the same shape as Queensland and Tasmania. What distinguishes it is how recently the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) was overhauled: the 2022 amendments modernised the definition of continuous service, clarified the treatment of casual and seasonal employment, and tightened the record-keeping obligations that an employee needs to rely on when a claim is made years later. Western Australia also has the largest share of employees whose service is measured across fly-in fly-out rosters and resource-sector contracting, which is where the definition of continuous service — rather than the rate of accrual — decides whether the entitlement exists at all.

Read the resignation column as the conservative case. From 7 years the redundancy column pays because the employer ended the employment; the resignation column stays empty until 10 years unless the resignation falls into one of the recognised categories. On a $1,500 weekly rate the difference at nine years is close to 7.8 weeks of pay.

Termination under the WA Act

After 7 years: pro-rata on any termination other than serious misconduct. After 10 years: full entitlement on any termination. Western Australia applies this to employees not covered by a federal award-derived entitlement; a small number of employees remain on pre-2010 award long service leave clauses, which can differ on the threshold and on the rate. Checking which instrument applies is the first step in any WA claim, and it is not obvious from the payslip. For employees in the resource sector, the interaction between a contractor's employment and the host's site is the second: service is with the employing entity, not with the site, however long the roster has run.

Casual, seasonal and fly-in fly-out service

The question that decides most Western Australian claims is whether the service was continuous, not how many weeks accrued. The Act treats casual and seasonal employment as continuous where the engagement is regular and the breaks between periods of work fall within the limits it sets. Rostered days off, annual shutdowns, periods of workers' compensation and authorised unpaid leave do not break continuity. A resignation followed by re-engagement with the same employer does break it, which is why an employee moving between related contracting entities on the same site should establish before the move whether the entities are related within the meaning of the Act — the answer determines whether 7 years of accrual survive it.

MyLeave, the WA construction scheme

MyLeave administers portable long service leave for the Western Australian construction industry. Employers pay a levy, workers are registered, and the entitlement accrues across employers — which in a sector built on project-length engagements is the only mechanism that reaches 10 years of service. The scheme's coverage follows the work performed rather than the job title, so employees of labour-hire businesses supplying construction sites are commonly covered. Where MyLeave applies, the balance is claimed from the scheme and does not appear in a final pay.

Claiming through WA industrial relations

Long service leave claims in Western Australia go to the private-sector labour relations division of the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, which provides an inspectorate, or to the Industrial Magistrates Court. The department publishes calculators and guidance on the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA) and can pursue an employer directly. Since the 2022 amendments the record-keeping requirements are explicit, which makes an employer's failure to keep service records a matter that cuts against the employer in a dispute rather than defeating the employee's claim.

The rules common to all eight jurisdictions — what counts as continuous service, the rate of pay the leave is paid at, and how leave is taken while employed — are set out in the long service leave guide. The final pay calculator adds the result to redundancy, notice and annual leave.