Portable Long Service Authority - news and events

The Authority has rescheduled the Law Week event scheduled for 18 May. Those who registered for the sold out event have been contacted with the new details.

There will be future events and information sessions happening through the year. Please subscribe to our email newsletter to find out about future events.

The Authority will be hosting two Law Week events on the topic, 'Portable long service: What does it mean to you as an employer or worker?'

If you are a worker or employer in the security, contract cleaning or community services sectors, attend this session to find out more about the Portable Long Service Scheme and what it means for you.

The sessions will be delivered online via Teams by Glenn Dashwood, Head of Operations at the Portable Long Service Authority.

Register for the webinars through Eventbrite. Bookings are essential.

Online Events

Tuesday 16 May (Now online)
5:30 – 6:00 pm
Via MS Teams

Register for online event

Thursday 18 May (sold out)
11:00 – 11:30 am
Via MS Teams

Monday 20 March 2023

Industrial Relations Victoria is currently conducting a review of the portable long service benefits scheme.

If you would like to participate in the review and have your say, go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/portable-long-service-benefits-scheme

The closing date for submissions was 28 April 2023.

If you have any questions about the review, please contact Industrial Relations Victoria (and not the Portable Long Service Authority) at irv.info@dpc.vic.gov.au.

Monday 26 September 2022

We attended 3 major trade exhibitions in recent weeks following the easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

PLSA staff were on hand to provide information and answer questions from employers and workers at the ISSA Cleaning Expo on 14–15 September at the International Convention Centre at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

There are 4 states and territories that operate a portable long service scheme in the contract cleaning sector. They are Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland. At this expo we shared the exhibition space with our colleagues from the New South Wales Long Service Corporation and the ACT Long Service Leave Authority.

The Expo was a great success with high attendance rates and strong interest generated in the portable long service schemes operating across the four states and territory.

The ISSA Cleaning Expo was held soon after we took part in the Security Exhibition and Conference in Sydney and the Care Expo in Melbourne in August.

Wednesday 29 June 2022

Victoria’s Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme has reached a significant milestone as it marks 3 years of supporting workers in the community services, contract cleaning and security sectors.

Staff and special guests gathered at the PLSA’s Bendigo headquarters on Wednesday June 29 to celebrate the third birthday of the organisation.

Since July 2019, more than 227,000 workers have been registered and will be eligible to claim a portable long service benefit.

Amendments to the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 mean more workers may be eligible to register with the Portable Long Service Authority.

The key change is that employees who work in contract cleaning and security in construction and registered with CoINVEST may be eligible to join the Portable Long Service Benefits Scheme under certain circumstances.

Workers registered with CoINVEST from 1 January 2022 may be eligible to register for portable long service if one of the following circumstances apply:

• The CoINVEST levy is no longer being paid by an employer (and the worker remains on the CoINVEST register).
• The CoINVEST levy is being paid by an employer and the worker also performs work for an employer in a covered industry.

For example, in the second scenario, where a worker is employed by an employer registered with CoINVEST in the construction industry and also employed by an employer in the contract cleaning or security industry, they may be eligible for portable long service with the Authority for the contract cleaning or security industry work.

Thursday 10 February 2022

Victoria’s Portable Long Service Authority has reached a major milestone with 200,000 workers now registered to receive portable long service benefits.

Under the Portable Long Service Scheme, which is administered by the Authority based in Bendigo, Victorian workers in the community services, contract cleaning and security industries can accumulate long service benefits based on their service in the industry rather than time with a single employer.

Prior to the Scheme commencing in 2019, many workers in the three industries were not eligible for the benefits of long service leave as they frequently moved from one short-term contract job to another.

“Quite often, these workers also held down multiple jobs to make ends meet and they rarely had the opportunity to accrue long service leave”, said Authority CEO Joseph Yeung.

The Scheme allows workers to accrue long service benefits even if they move between different employers in the same industry.

The Minister for Industrial Relations, Tim Pallas, has announced the milestone registered worker is Ethan Rowley of Shepparton.

While making the announcement, Mr Pallas added, “It is major achievement that so many Victorians can look forward to the benefits of long service in the future, something which they had been denied in the past”.

Ethan joined WDEA Works in Shepparton in September 2021.

“I’m fortunate in spending my days working with young people who are currently in their last year of school or who have recently left school and are searching for a job”, he said.

WDEA Works is a not-for-profit organisation with offices across regional Victoria which helps people with a disability find employment.

“The Portable Long Service Authority has exceeded all expectations by registering so many workers in less than three years of operation”, said Mr Yeung.

“The Authority is also managing $150 million in funds to secure portable long service leave for what adds up to be about 5% of Victoria’s 3.5 million-strong workforce”, he added.

The number of workers registered with the Authority has climbed to 211,413.

All employers registered with the Portable Long Service Authority must lodge a quarterly return every 3 months in October, January, April and July.

These training sessions step employers through submitting their quarterly return using the employer portal including manually adding workers and adding workers through bulk upload.

They are delivered by our Customer Service and Education Officers.

The following sessions are available in January 2022:

• Wednesday 12 January, 2pm–3pm
• Wednesday 19 January, 2pm–3pm

Bookings are essential. Information sessions will be run via MS Teams and a link will be sent prior to the event.

The Portable Long Service Authority has an active role in protecting the benefits of over 190,000 vulnerable and low paid Victorian workers.

Under the Portable Long Service Scheme, which is administered by the Authority, registered workers from the contact cleaning, community services and security industries are eligible for portable long service leave.

“Before the Scheme’s introduction, workers in the 3 industries often missed out on the benefits of long service leave as they moved frequently from one short-term contract job to another or held down multiple low-paid jobs to make ends meet,” said Authority Chief Executive Officer Joseph Yeung.

“This meant they rarely had the opportunity to accrue long service leave,” he added.

The Authority’s registration numbers continue to rise as more workers learn about the Portable Long Service Scheme.

The Scheme is similar to those operating in other states and allows workers to accrue long service benefits even if they move between different employers in the same industry.

About 2,500 Victorian employers in the three industries pay a levy of between 1.65% and 1.8% to fund the Scheme.

The Authority currently provides registered workers with information detailing their employers during the past financial year and their accrued hours on which their portable long service leave will be based. This is known as the worker Annual Statement.

Soon registered workers will receive an email or letter advising them to log into the worker portal on the Portable Long Service Authority website to view their annual statement. It is important that workers log onto the worker portal regularly to update their personal details if they change.

“If registered workers fail to log onto the worker portal, they may overlook vital information about their future benefits", said Mr Yeung.

With a large proportion of workers registered with the Authority from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds, the annual statement is written in plain English. This year there is also information on the Authority’s website in seven languages including Chinese, Arabic and Hindi.

“We believe there are still many workers in Victoria who may be eligible for portable long service, but they are not aware of the Scheme because of language difficulties,” said Mr Yeung.

“We are determined to help these workers and are engaging with employer peak bodies, unions and community groups to seek them out and make them aware of their rights under the Scheme,” he added.

The Portable Long Service Authority has an active role in protecting the benefits of more than 190,000 Victorian workers.

Under the Portable Long Service Scheme, which is administered by the Authority, registered workers from the contact cleaning, community services and security industries are eligible for portable long service leave.

The Authority is currently sending emails and letters to registered workers advising them to log into the worker portal on the Portable Long Service Authority website.

Within the portal is information about a worker’s employment history in the past year. This is called the worker annual statement.

It is important that workers log into the portal to check the details on their annual statement so they don’t miss out on portable long service benefits in the future.

With a large proportion of workers registered with the Authority from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds, the annual statement is written in plain English.

This year there is also information on the Authority’s website in seven languages including Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

“We also believe there are still many workers in Victoria who may be eligible for portable long service, but they are not aware of the Scheme because of language barriers,” said Authority Chief Executive Officer Joseph Yeung

“Before the Scheme’s introduction, workers in the 3 industries often missed out on the benefits of long service leave as they moved frequently from one short-term contract job to another or held down multiple low-paid jobs to make ends meet”, said Mr Yeung.

“This meant they rarely had the opportunity to accrue long service leave,” Mr Yeung added.

The Scheme is similar to those operating in other states and allows workers to accrue long service benefits even if they move between different employers in the same industry.

About 2,500 Victorian employers in the three industries pay a levy of between 1.65% and 1.8% to fund the Scheme.

Employers in the security industry are encouraged to apply for registration with the Portable Long Service Authority (Authority) to enable Victorian workers in the industry to accrue long service entitlements.

The Authority administers the Portable Long Service Scheme (Scheme) allowing security, contract cleaning and community services workers to take long service entitlements with them from job-to-job within the same industry.

This benefit had previously not been available to these workers with many people in these industries missing out on long service, despite working for years doing the same job but for different employers.

The Scheme ensures that security workers can build up their long service benefits based on the time they have spent in the industry, even if they switch employers throughout their career. The Scheme enables workers to move from employer to employer (and even self-employment) without losing entitlements they have earned.

Security industry employers must apply to register with the Scheme and register their workers to enable them to accrue portable long service leave.

“We are committed to supporting Victorian employers by providing them with the information they need to participate and comply with the Scheme,” said the Portable Long Service Authority Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Yeung.

Once a worker has accrued 7 years of service under the Portable Long Service Scheme, they can choose to access their entitlements under the Scheme.

You can find more information about the Portable Long Service Authority and the Portable Long Service Scheme on our website.