South Australia has two portable long service schemes, and neither is a simple "hours and pay" return. Community services asks for the number of weeks each worker was paid in the quarter. Construction asks for service days, where only days of 5 hours or more count, and takes the pay for shorter days out of remuneration. Xero reports neither, so this guide shows how to get both from Xero's payroll reports.
Jump to: Community services · Construction · Getting the figures from Xero
| Scheme | Return period | Return and levy due | Levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community services | Quarterly | 21 April, 21 July, 21 October, 21 January | 2.2% of remuneration |
| Construction | Every two months (Jan–Feb, Mar–Apr, May–Jun, Jul–Aug, Sep–Oct, Nov–Dec) | 21 days after the period ends: 21 March, 21 May, 21 July, 21 September, 21 November, 21 January | 2.00% of remuneration |
Both schemes fine late returns and late levy payments; community services lists a $75 fine per offence. The levy is paid by the employer; the community services scheme states it can't be deducted from wages. Apprentices are registered and reported in both schemes but are levy free.
Each quarter, for every registered worker, the return asks for:
A single shift of 2 hours or more, or one day of paid leave, in a quarter credits the worker with the whole quarter's service. The weeks figure records how much of the quarter they were actually paid for.
The rule is broad: any payment that isn't on the excluded list is included.
| Included | Excluded |
|---|---|
| Ordinary hours, casual loading | Overtime, or hours paid at overtime rates |
| Penalty rates and shift allowances for weekends, public holidays, late nights and early mornings, broken shifts | Annual leave loading |
| Annual, sick/personal, carer's, compassionate and bereavement leave | Unused time off paid in lieu |
| Days off for public holidays, rostered days off | Bonuses |
| Parental leave paid by the employer | Government Paid Parental Leave |
| Sleepover and first aid allowances, payment for stand down | Fares, travel and vehicle allowances; reimbursements |
| Salary packaging and salary sacrifice amounts | Superannuation |
| Workers' compensation paid by Return to Work SA (directly or through you) | Retirement, retrenchment or redundancy payments (back pay is still included) |
| Any other payment not excluded | Special rates paid irregularly for occasional disabilities |
A casual support worker in the October–December quarter (13 weeks):
Weeks worked = 9 + 1 = 10. A week with a single 3-hour shift counts the same as a week with five full shifts.
The scheme doesn't say whether a week runs Monday to Sunday or follows your pay week. Pick the one that matches your roster or pay cycle and use it every quarter.
The portal pre-fills the return with your registered workers. You can key in weeks worked and remuneration for each one, or use Download Template to get an XLSX file, fill in the Weeks Worked and Remuneration columns, and Upload Template. The scheme's own estimate for a 100-plus worker business is three hours or more to key in by hand, or an hour or more to upload. Workers who left get a termination date and reason; the template also has Discrepancy Reason and Comments columns.
Every two months, for each worker, the return asks for service days and remuneration.
| Include | Exclude |
|---|---|
| Days worked 5 hours or more | Days with less than 5 hours worked |
| Paid annual leave, paid personal/sick leave | Unpaid leave |
| Paid public holidays, paid rostered days off | Long service leave |
| Apprentice trade school days | Days worked outside South Australia |
| Include | Exclude |
|---|---|
| Pay for days worked 5 hours or more | Pay for days with less than 5 hours worked |
| Annual leave (taken), personal/sick leave, public holidays, RDOs | Annual leave loading; annual leave or RDOs paid in lieu, including on termination |
| Industry, tool, leading hand and first aid allowances | Site allowance; fares, travel and car allowances; living away from home allowance |
| Casual loading | Overtime, bonuses, redundancy and retirement payments |
| Workers' compensation income maintenance (up to 2 years) | Special rates paid irregularly; pay for work outside SA; apprentices' pay |
A worker on $40 an hour has, over the two months: 30 days of 8 hours, 3 days of 4 hours (rain-outs), 2 days of paid annual leave and 1 paid RDO.
Export the return from the Employer Portal to Excel. It comes with your workers listed, including Member ID, worker type and employment type. Fill in Service Days and Period Remuneration for each worker, plus termination date and reason for leavers, then upload it. The portal shows validation errors for anything it can't accept.
| Xero report | Community services | Construction |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll Activity Details | Remuneration: every pay item, with amounts | Remuneration |
| Timesheet Details | Which weeks had a shift | Hours per day, for the 5-hour rule (essential) |
| Leave Requests, all leave types | Which weeks had paid leave | Paid leave days; tells unpaid leave apart |
| Employee Remuneration | Employee groups, pay frequency, termination dates | Employment basis (casual), hourly rate, termination dates |
The helper can't tell trade school days or interstate work apart from other days, so make sure trade school days are in the timesheet and leave out interstate work yourself. It flags casuals who never had 3 days of 5+ hours in a month, so you can decide whether they belong on the construction return.