Key points
- Every state and territory Act covers part-time employees.
- The qualifying period counts years of continuous service, not hours.
- In Queensland, if you were part-time at any time, the Act calculates your leave in hours (s 105).
- Each state averages varied or changed hours over a different period.
- If you went from full-time to part-time, your employer does not always pay your leave at part-time hours.
On this page
Does part-time service count the same as full-time service?
Every state and territory Act covers part-time employees. The qualifying period counts years of continuous service, not hours.
In NSW, a change between full-time and part-time work does not break your service (s 4(11)). WA government guidance says the same. In SA, leave accrues at 1.3 weeks for each completed year for full-time, part-time and casual workers (s 5). In Tasmania, regular work of at least 32 hours in each 4-week period counts as continuous service, also for part-time work (s 5(3)).
Queensland uses a different method. If you were part-time at any time, the Act calculates your leave in hours. The formula is: total ordinary hours that you actually worked over your whole service / 52 x 8.6667 / 10 (s 105). If you and your employer agree, you can take those hours as full-time weeks. For example, you can take 247 hours as 6.5 weeks of 38 hours (s 104).
How each state averages your hours
This table shows when each state averages your hours, and over which period.
| State | Averaging period | How it works | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 12 months or 5 years, whichever is higher | This applies if your normal weekly hours are not fixed. Your employer uses your current hourly rate x your average weekly hours over 12 months, or your average weekly pay over 5 years. You get the higher amount | s 3(1), s 3(2A) |
| VIC | 52 weeks, 260 weeks or your whole period of employment, whichever is greatest | This applies if your hours are not fixed, or if your fixed hours changed in the 104 weeks before your leave. Hours of paid leave count. Weeks of unpaid leave do not count | s 16 |
| QLD | Your whole period of service | This applies if you were part-time at any time. The formula is: total ordinary hours worked / 52 x 8.6667 / 10 = hours of leave. Your employer pays these hours at your current hourly rate | s 105 |
| WA | Each accrual period separately | This applies if your hours varied. Your employer uses your average weekly hours for the first 10 years, and then for each later 5 years | s 7(2) |
| SA | The last 3 years (156 weeks) | This applies if, in the last 3 years, you were part-time, you had hourly pay or your hours varied. Your employer replaces each week that was all unpaid leave or workers compensation with an earlier week | s 3(2), s 3(4) |
| TAS | The 12 months before your leave starts | This applies if your normal weekly hours are not fixed. The formula is: total hours / 52 | s 11(6) |
| ACT | 12 months, or 5 years if you went part-time recently | For leave that you take: your employer uses your average hours in the 12 months before you became entitled. If you went part-time in the 2 years before, your employer uses total pay over 5 years / 5 / 52. When you leave your job: your employer uses the last 12 months at your final rate | s 7(2), s 7(3), s 11D |
| NT | Each completed year separately | For each completed year, your employer calculates final rate x the weekly hours of that year (without overtime) x 1.3. Then your employer adds the amounts together | s 11 |
If you changed between full-time and part-time work
In NSW, if you get a fixed rate of pay, you get the greater of two amounts. These are your current pay or your average weekly pay over the last 5 years (s 3(1)(a)). This helps you if you recently decreased your hours.
In Victoria, a change in your fixed hours in the last 104 weeks starts the averaging rule. In the official example, Sonia worked for 8 years. For the last 26 weeks, she decreased her hours from 38 to 24 a week. Her average over her whole employment, 37.1 hours, was the greatest, so her employer used it (s 16).
In SA, your hours in the last 3 years control the result. In the official examples, Alex worked part-time for 5 years and then full-time, so he got full-time pay. Kai worked full-time for 6 years and then part-time for 5, so his employer used his part-time hours (s 3(2)).
In WA, each accrual period has its own average. In the official example, Mike left after 18 years 6 months. He had 8.667 weeks at 38 hours, 4.333 weeks at 20 hours and 2.6 weeks at 25 hours. His total was 481.006 hours (s 7(2)).
In the ACT, the 5-year method applies if you went part-time within 2 years before you became entitled (s 7(3)). When you leave your job, the 12-month rule applies (s 11D). The Act does not say if the 5-year method also applies when you leave.
In Tasmania, the Act averages your hours only if your normal weekly hours are not fixed (s 11(6)). Our sources have no official rule for fixed part-time hours that changed.
Common questions
Do part-time workers get long service leave?
Yes. Every state and territory Act covers part-time employees. Your hours change your pay, but they do not change your cover.
Does a year of part-time work count as a full year of service?
Yes, for your qualifying period. In Queensland, the amount of leave comes from the total hours that you worked (s 105).
I changed from full-time to part-time. Will I get my leave at part-time hours?
Not always. Most states look back over a period that can include your full-time years. Refer to the table above.
Do overtime hours count in SA?
Yes. SA averages the hours that you worked, with overtime. But the rate that your employer uses does not include overtime (s 3(2)).
What happens if my fixed hours changed in Tasmania?
Our sources have no official rule for this. The Act averages your hours only if your normal weekly hours are not fixed (s 11(6)). Ask WorkSafe Tasmania, or read your award or agreement.
Related guides
Rules last reviewed 3 November 2026. Every figure comes from the state Acts, the regulators and the ATO; see sources and method.
Calculators
Across Australia
- Pro rata leave in every state
- Is it paid out when you leave?
- How many weeks you get
- Tax on unused leave
- Casual workers
- Part-time and changed hours
- Cashing out leave
- Super on long service leave
- Portable schemes
- Commonwealth and APS staff
- NSW Health staff
- Every long service leave Act
- Fair Work and the NES
- Awards and long service leave
- Changing employers