The NSW Government has introduced a new Community Services Industry (CSI) portable long service leave scheme effective from 1 July 2025.
CPSU NSW members who work in the Disability sector are eligible for this scheme.
What is portable long service leave?
Traditionally, long service leave requires 10 years of continuous employment with a single employer. However, many community and disability sector workers frequently move between organisations.
Under the CSI scheme, workers become eligible for up to six weeks of paid long service leave after seven years of service within the industry, regardless of how many employers they’ve had during that time, making the long service leave “portable”. This applies to full-time, part-time and casual employees. The scheme is managed by the Long Service Leave Corporation, a NSW Government body established under the Long Service Corporation Act.
Your employer is responsible for registering you for the scheme
You do not need to do anything immediately to register for the scheme. It is the responsibility of your employer to register you in the scheme, and there are fines for the employer if they do not do so.
Foundation worker bonus
The CSI scheme enables eligible workers to claim up to 6 weeks of paid leave after 7 years (2555 days) of service to the industry. However, foundation workers will receive one year of bonus service credits, meaning they may claim their long service leave a year earlier.
Foundation workers are:
Does this scheme affect my past service?
Only service performed after 1 July 2025 will count toward portable long service leave. However, your employer remains responsible for any prior service under existing laws.
This means that unfortunately your already-accrued Long Service Leave is not portable. The LSL portability is only proactive from 1 July 2025.
You do not “lose” any previously accrued Long Service Leave entitlements.
Where can I get further information on the scheme and how it affects me?
The CPSU NSW encourages you to view the Long Service Corporation website for the CSI scheme here which has further information. There are some Frequently Asked Questions or “FAQs” here.
