Australian Capital Territory long service leave provisions under AASB 119
For bookkeepers and accountants measuring the long service leave provision for staff in Australian Capital Territory. This page sets out the Australian Capital Territory rules Vestline applies, where each comes from and when it was checked. Load a payroll export into the calculator and every employee whose state is ACT is valued on these rules, with a working paper your auditor can re-perform.
Not yet professionally reviewed
The method, the state rules and a sample working paper have not yet been reviewed by an independent accountant or actuary. Until they are, treat every figure as a draft for the preparer to check.
Legislation can change. The rules below were checked against the sources listed on 2026-09-23.
The Australian Capital Territory rules Vestline applies
- Legislation
- Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT) ss 3, 4, 11A, 11C
- Entitlement
- 6.07 weeks after 7 years; 1/5 of a month for each further year
- Pro-rata on leaving
- 5 to under 7 years: resignation for illness, incapacity or domestic or other pressing necessity; resignation at or after retiring age; death; employer termination other than for serious and wilful misconduct (s 11C). 7 years or more: any reason (s 11A).
- Valued as payable from
- 7 years' service
- Shown as current from
- 7 years' service
- Sources
- Checked
- 2026-09-23
These are the general private-sector Acts. Portable schemes (for example construction, cleaning and community services), enterprise agreements and pre-modern awards can give different entitlements; value those employees separately.
What the two service points mean
- Valued as payable from
- The earliest service at which the employee can take the leave or be paid it on any exit: the full entitlement, an earlier right to take leave, or a pro-rata payment on any exit. It sets when Vestline expects the leave to be paid.
- Shown as current from
- The earliest service from which the entity has no right to defer settlement for 12 months (AASB 101 para 69(d)), so the leave is classified as a current liability.
How Vestline measures the provision
- Long service leave is an other long-term employee benefit measured at the present value of expected future payments for service to the valuation date (AASB 119 paras 153-155).
- The projected unit credit method attributes to each employee the leave accrued to the valuation date under the state Act (AASB 119 paras 67-70).
- Unvested leave is weighted by the probability of reaching an entitlement, allowing for staff who leave before vesting (AASB 119 para 72).
- Exits are assumed to occur mid-year. Mortality is not modelled; for working-age staff its effect is small next to turnover.
- Leave for which the employee has an unconditional entitlement is shown as current even if it is not expected to be taken within 12 months, because the entity has no right to defer settlement (AASB 101 para 69; NSW Treasury TPG24-23 section 3.1).
- In Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia an employee with 7 years' service is paid pro-rata leave on resignation (Vic s 9; WA s 8(3); SA s 5(3)-(4)). The WA and SA exception for dismissal for serious misconduct turns on the employee's conduct, not a choice the entity can make, so that leave is shown as current from 7 years. Its value still assumes payment on exit or after the full entitlement. This classification is a judgement for the preparer and is one of the points awaiting professional review.
- Annual leave is valued at current pay plus on-costs, undiscounted, and shown as current. This suits leave expected to be taken within 12 months; a large balance carried for longer may need discounting as a long-term benefit.
- Where a state Act pays pro-rata for all exits except serious misconduct (WA, SA), every exit is treated as qualifying.
The Method page sets out the rules for every state and territory side by side.
Value Australian Capital Territory staff alongside staff in any other state or territory: the present value, the current and non-current split, the movement from last year and the journal.
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