22 Jul 2025
Libby Pallot, Ben Tallboys, Anthony Massaro, Mandi Xu, Walter MacCallum, Samuel Ellemor, Abbey Burns, Kelly Ralph, Morgan Smithe, Shi Jing Wong, Harrison Gray, Emily Tang, Molly Lawlor, Jack Kneale, Sarah Newman & Sara Ibrahim
From 1 July 2025, New South Wales has a new Community Services Industry Portable Long Service Leave Scheme (CSI Scheme), designed to support workers in the community services sector who often move between employers within the industry.
Traditionally, long service leave in New South Wales requires 10 years of continuous service with a single employer. But in the community services sector—where job mobility is common—this model has meant many workers have not had the opportunity to access long service leave benefits.
The new CSI Scheme intends to address this issue by allowing workers to accumulate long service leave entitlements across multiple employers, provided that the worker works continuously within the industry.
The CSI Scheme is established by the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024 and is administered by the NSW Long Service Corporation.
Understanding whether your employees fall within the scope of the scheme is essential, as it determines whether your business must register with the NSW Long Service Corporation from 1 July 2025. Failure to comply with the CSI Scheme may result in penalties.
Who is eligible
- Eligible employers: Eligible employers are entities who engage one or more workers to do community service work (including as a labour hire provider). The types of work that fall under this category are detailed in Schedule 1 of the Act, which lists 31 recognised community service activities.
- Eligible workers: eligible workers are paid employees engaged in community service work on a full-time, part-time, or casual basis.
Self-employed persons (i.e. contractors) can voluntarily opt into the scheme and pay their own long service leave contributions.
There are some exemptions to the scheme, including for directors performing work under a contract for their own company.
What does this mean
- Eligibility: Under this new scheme, workers become eligible for long service leave after seven years of service in the industry with one or more employers.
- Entitlement: eligible workers can claim up to 6.1 weeks of long service leave for each seven years of service – this can be taken in increments or all at once.
- Funding: eligible employers must pay a quarterly levy of 1.7% of the gross ordinary wages of their eligible workers, which is paid into a fund for the purpose of paying workers once they are eligible to claim the long service leave benefit. For opt-in self-employed contractors, the levy is based on a percentage of what they would ordinarily be paid for their work.
The NSW Long Service Corporation has provided the expected levy payment due dates for the coming year on their website here. Contributions must be paid within 14 days.
- Start Date: From 1 July 2025, employers will be required to register with the Long Service Corporation. Employers must register with the scheme:
- For existing businesses - before 1 August 2025.
- For new businesses – within 1 month of the business commencing as an employer within the sector.
Employers have until April 2026 to lodge service returns and pay levy payments for the first 3 quarters following the commencement of the scheme.
From April 2026, if an employer has an employee that is not registered with the scheme, or has not registered within 3 months of commencing employment, the employer will be required to register the employee within 14 days after the 3 month period ends.
Looking Ahead
The CSI scheme marks a major development in the community services sector in New South Wales, as it is critical that businesses within the sector understand their obligations under the scheme, register with the Long Service Corporation and implement processes to register workers, report their remuneration and pay contributions to the scheme.
How we can help
Please contact a member from our Workplace Relations, Employment and Safety team, for advice regarding the new CSI Scheme or any other workplace relations matter.
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