How Annual Leave Works in the ACT

Standard NES formula: 4 weeks/year, 2.923 hours/week accrual on 38 hours.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY • ANNUAL LEAVE TOOL

Annual Leave Calculator ACT

Calculate your annual leave balance in hours, weeks and days based on your service period, ordinary working hours, working pattern and leave already taken.

Calculate Your Leave Balance

Enter your service dates, ordinary weekly hours, working days and any leave already taken to calculate your estimated annual leave balance.

The annual leave formula below is the same nationally under the NES — this just tailors the page to your state.
Casual employees are generally not entitled to paid annual leave under the NES — they receive casual loading instead.
The date you want the balance calculated up to.
Enter your ordinary weekly hours.
Used to convert leave hours into your actual working days.
Any paid annual leave already used during this service period. Leave as 0 if none.
Estimated Leave Balance
0.00 hours
Balance in Weeks 0.00
Balance in Days 0.00
Average Accrual / Week 0.00
Service Period 0 days
4 Weeks Per Year The calculator uses four weeks of annual leave for each completed service year.
Your Working Pattern Enter your actual days worked per week to convert leave hours into leave days.
Leap Years Partial service periods use the actual number of days between service anniversaries. If the service year includes February 29, the calculation automatically accounts for the extra day.
How the calculation works: Completed service years receive exactly four weeks of entitlement. A partial service year is prorated using the actual number of elapsed days between the current service anniversary and the next anniversary, then any leave already taken is subtracted to give your remaining balance. This automatically accounts for leap years.

Long Service Leave in the ACT

Under the Long Service Leave Act 1976 (ACT), the ACT (alongside Victoria) has the shortest qualifying period in Australia:

  • 6.0667 weeks of paid LSL after just 7 years of continuous service
  • A further 1/5 of a month (~0.867 weeks) for each additional year of service after that
  • Pro-rata available from 5 years in specific circumstances (employer-initiated termination not for misconduct, or incapacity)
  • Full-time, part-time, and casual employees are covered

Curious how this compares? See VIC's matching 7-year rule, TAS's entitlement, or NT's 13-week LSL.

Public Holidays in the ACT

The ACT observes the national holidays plus Canberra Day (March) and Reconciliation Day (June) — both unique to the Territory. Check legislation.act.gov.au for the current-year list, as the ACT has recently adjusted some holiday dates.

FAQs

How soon can I access long service leave in the ACT? 

After 7 years — tied with Victoria for the earliest access nationally. 

What's unique about ACT public holidays? 

Canberra Day and Reconciliation Day are ACT-only additions to the national calendar. 

Is pro-rata LSL available before 7 years in the ACT? 

Yes, from 5 years, but only in specific termination circumstances.

Lucas Gibney

Lucas Gibney

I build simple, accurate tools to help Australian employees understand their workplace entitlements — starting with annual leave. I created this calculator after noticing how often people got confused about their leave balance, especially with pro-rata calculations, casual loading, and the small differences between states and awards. Every calculation here is based on the real NES formula from the Fair Work Act, not a rough guess. My focus is on keeping these tools accurate, easy to use, and genuinely useful — so you can check your entitlements in seconds.