Transfer of Long Service Leave for Contract Cleaners Moving to Public Service Jobs
Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Topics
contract cleaning employee entitlements employee rights long service leave public service employment
Introduced by: The Hon Sophie Cotsis MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Karen McKeown ALP
“I resume my contribution to debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. As I was saying, in broad terms, the bill focuses on four things. First, it modernises administration, supporting more efficient registration, reporting and contribution processes, including contemporary digital channels.”
Liesl Tesch ALP
“I speak about the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026, a really important piece of legislation. I dedicate my remarks to Margaret. Marg was the cleaner of my classroom when I taught at Brisbane Water Secondary College. She is a beautiful human being and she did a fantastic job. We did a lot of work beside each other keeping my classroom clean.”
Jenny Leong GRN
“I speak on behalf of The Greens in support of the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. I acknowledge that the Minister is present in the Chamber. This bill is part of a number of reforms and an exciting reality whereby the Government is bringing into public hands contracted workers who were previously in privatised and insecure work.”
Jodie Harrison ALP
“I contribute to debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. At the outset, I thank Minister Cotsis for her consistent and hard work in this area. This is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do for the people of New South Wales. It is the right thing to do for people within our schools.”
David Mehan ALP
“I am pleased to contribute to debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026.”
Donna Davis ALP
“I contribute to the debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. Following on from the contribution of the member for The Entrance, when I was living in a share house in my university days, one of our most popular pastimes included using a dartboard with a picture of Premier Greiner right in the centre of the target.”
Sonia Hornery ALP
“Where would our hospitals be without cleaners? Where would this House be without our wonderful cleaners? Where would the world be without cleaners? They are the most important people in the universe. I admit I have a bit of a conflict of interest, being the daughter of a cleaner who worked at West Wallsend Public School—the infant school—for 21 years.”
Tim Crakanthorp ALP
“I make a contribution to debate in support of the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. Cleaning is an essential task in all public institutions, including schools, and for too long it has been treated as a peripheral service rather than the backbone of a healthy environment.”
David Saliba ALP
“I make a contribution to debate in support of the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. I commend the Minister for Industrial Relations for all her work in the contract cleaning space but also the industrial relations regime across the New South Wales public sector. She has a tough job that requires an amazing person to deal with challenges.”
“I make a brief contribution in support of the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. This practical and necessary reform is long overdue. It ensures that contract cleaners moving into public service employment do not lose the long service leave that they have worked very hard to accrue over many years. At its core, the bill is about fairness.”
Yasmin Catley ALP
“I make a short contribution to debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. I have been a member of this place for 11 years, and for 11 years we have been trying to change the situation for our cleaners, who were working under a privatised model. I could not be prouder to be here with the Minister.”
Sophie Cotsis ALP
“I am pleased to deliver a brief reply to debate on the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026. I thank all members who contributed to debate, including Minister Catley, who has been a strong advocate for this issue over many years on the Central Coast, in the Hunter, and in her electorate of Swansea in particular.”
News articles and press releases
Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026
Ms SOPHIE COTSIS, Minister for Industrial Relations — 2026-02-11
The bill will amend the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Act 2010 to recognise the long service leave of contract cleaning workers as they transfer employment within the public service. Reforming New South Wales’ industrial relations system is a priority for the Government, and this bill is an important step in this broader process of reform. There are approximately 7,000 cleaners employed under the New South Wales Government’s whole‑of‑government cleaning contracts, with the Department of Education and TAFE NSW accounting for approximately 85 per cent of those contracts. The workforce is made up of a majority of women—59 per cent—and a majority over 45 years of age, or 61 per cent.