Do NDIS providers need to register for portable long service leave?

For NDIS providers and disability support employers, and the bookkeepers who look after them. Covers Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. Last checked October 2026. Every rule here comes from the scheme's own published guidance, linked under Official sources. If anything differs, the scheme's guidance is what counts; please email me and I'll correct it.

Short answer: if you employ staff to deliver disability support in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales or South Australia, you very likely need to be registered with that state's portable long service scheme, report your workers every quarter and pay a levy. It doesn't matter whether you are NDIS-registered or how the support is funded: the schemes look at the work your employees do.

Some providers only find out about this when the scheme contacts them, and then have to report several years of past quarters at once, including staff who have long since left. This guide sets out who is covered in each state, what you have to do, and how to catch up if you're behind.

Which states have a scheme for disability support workers?

State	Scheme	Covers disability support employers since	Levy (Oct 2026)	Return due
Victoria	Portable Long Service Authority (PLSA)	1 January 2020 for NDIS-funded work (the scheme began in 2019)	1.65% of ordinary pay	End of the month after each quarter
Queensland	QLeave, community services	1 January 2021	1.35% of ordinary wages	14 days after each quarter
New South Wales	Long Service Corporation, community services industry scheme	1 July 2025	1.7% of ordinary wages from 1 July 2026	14 days after each quarter
South Australia	Portable Long Service Leave SA, community services	1 October 2025	2.2% of gross remuneration	21 days after each quarter

The ACT also has a portable scheme for the community sector, run by ACT Leave, and the Northern Territory has introduced legislation for one. Neither is covered here; check with them directly.

Who is covered in each state?

Victoria

Non-profit organisations are covered if they employ at least one person to do community services work. For-profit businesses are covered if they employ at least one person to do community services work for people with a disability, which is why for-profit NDIS providers are caught. Activities funded by the NDIS count as community services work. Workers are covered if they fall under one of five awards, most often the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award, whether full time, part time, casual or seasonal. Government bodies, health services and residential aged care are outside the scheme.

Queensland

All employers in Queensland's community services industry have had to register since 1 January 2021. QLeave's list of covered services includes disability support services and disability emergency response services. Labour-hire businesses that supply workers to community services employers are covered too. Government bodies can't register. QLeave has an online check to confirm whether you need to.

New South Wales

The scheme started on 1 July 2025 and is mandatory for any employer with one or more people doing community service work in NSW, even if community services isn't the main thing the business does. "Disability supports and services", including NDIS supports, is one of the 31 covered service types. Residential aged care and early childhood education are excluded for now. Self-managed NDIS participants who employ their own workers directly, rather than through a service agreement, can count as employers. The Long Service Corporation gives the example of a private allied health clinic with NDIS clients that provides only clinical allied health services: it isn't covered.

South Australia

The scheme started on 1 October 2025. A worker is covered if their role falls under a classification in the SCHADS Award (including Home Care Employee – Disability Care) or the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Award, and they deliver one of the services listed in the Act, which include disability support services. Staff who spend at least half their time supporting those services, such as admin, payroll or management, are covered under any award. Employers had 28 days from the start of the scheme to register; a business that takes on its first eligible worker later has 28 days from then. Public sector agencies and councils are excluded.

Sole traders who work alone don't have employees, so there's nothing to register as an employer. In NSW and Queensland a self-employed worker can choose to register themselves; in South Australia self-employed people and working directors can't be registered as employees but can apply separately.

What do you have to do once you're registered?

Register your business with the scheme in each state where your staff work.
Register your workers, or add them on your first return.
Lodge a return every quarter with each covered worker's service and pay for that quarter. Victoria asks for hours and ordinary pay, Queensland and NSW for ordinary wages (Queensland also wants an annual rate of pay), and South Australia for weeks worked and remuneration.
Pay the levy on the invoice that follows. It is paid by you, not deducted from wages.

The step-by-step guides for each scheme cover exactly which pay items count and which Xero reports to use: Victoria PLSA, QLeave, NSW and South Australia.

What happens to the levy if a worker leaves the sector?

This is the question providers ask most often. The levy funds the scheme as a whole. It isn't held in an account for each worker, and it isn't refunded to the employer when a worker leaves: QLeave says plainly that levies aren't refunded once paid. A worker keeps their recorded service while they stay in the industry, and can lose it after a long enough break; the length of break allowed differs between schemes. If you want the exact rule for your state, ask the scheme, and keep the answer on file.

What if you should have registered earlier?

If you've been employing disability support workers without registering, the safest course is to contact the scheme yourself rather than wait for it to find you. In practice:

Register now and tell the scheme when you first employed covered workers. It will tell you which past quarters it needs.
Gather payroll for each missing quarter. In Xero you can run Payroll Activity Details (and Timesheet Details, if hours or days are needed) for any past date range, so each quarter can be done separately.
Include everyone who worked in each quarter, including staff who have since left. The schemes expect them on the returns for the quarters they worked.
Lodge each quarter as its own return, then pay the levy invoices. Fines can apply for late registration and late returns, so it helps to show you came forward and are working through it.

In Victoria, the PLSA's reporting rules changed from the April–June 2025 quarter. If you're catching up on earlier quarters, check with the PLSA which rules apply to them.

Catching up on several quarters?
PLSL Return Helper reads your Xero exports for one quarter at a time, applies that scheme's rules for each worker and fills in the scheme's own spreadsheet, so a backlog of quarters becomes a repeatable routine rather than a fresh spreadsheet each time. It runs in your browser and your payroll data never leaves your computer. Free for returns with up to 5 workers; press Try it with sample data to see it first.
Open the helper

The helper applies each scheme's current rules. For Victorian quarters before April 2025, check with the PLSA first.

Quick answers

Do NDIS providers have to register for portable long service leave?

In Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, employers whose staff deliver disability support are generally covered by the state community services scheme and must register, report each quarter and pay a levy. Coverage depends on the work employees do, not on NDIS registration.

Are for-profit NDIS providers covered in Victoria?

Yes. In Victoria, for-profit businesses are covered if they employ at least one person to do community services work for people with a disability, and NDIS-funded activities have counted as community services work since 1 January 2020.

When did the disability sector become covered in each state?

Victoria from 1 January 2020 for NDIS-funded work, Queensland from 1 January 2021, New South Wales from 1 July 2025 and South Australia from 1 October 2025.

Is the levy refunded if a worker leaves the industry?

No. The levy funds the scheme as a whole and isn't refunded to the employer; QLeave states this plainly. A worker can lose recorded service after a long enough break from the industry, and the allowed break differs between schemes.

What should a provider do if it should have registered earlier?

Register and tell the scheme when you first employed covered workers. It will say which past quarters it needs. Lodge each quarter as its own return, including workers who have since left, then pay the levy invoices.

Lodge in more than one state? See how the portable long service schemes compare: due dates, levy rates, and how penalties, sleepovers and allowances are treated in each.