The First NES Review in 17 Years: Could Australian Workers Get 5 Weeks' Annual Leave?

Australian workers currently perform an average of 4.5 weeks of unpaid overtime every year. Now, for the first time since 2009, Parliament is asking whether the rules that protect your minimum entitlements are still fit for purpose.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations, Skills and Training is conducting an inquiry into the operation and adequacy of the National Employment Standards — the 11 minimum workplace entitlements that underpin every employment contract in Australia. The committee’s first public hearing is scheduled for 26 March 2026 in Canberra.

This is not a minor tune-up. Submissions from unions, employer groups, industry bodies, and legal organisations have put some of the most significant proposals in a generation on the table — including a fifth week of annual leave, a national long service leave standard, and a reduction in maximum weekly hours.

Here is what is being proposed, who is pushing for it, and what it could mean for your pay and entitlements.

What are the National Employment Standards?

The National Employment Standards (NES) are the 11 minimum entitlements that apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system under the Fair Work Act 2009. They include:

• Maximum weekly hours (currently 38 hours plus reasonable additional hours)
• Annual leave (currently 4 weeks, or 5 weeks for shift workers)
• Personal/carer’s leave (10 days per year)
• Parental leave (12 months unpaid)
• Public holidays, notice of termination, redundancy pay, and more

These are the floor — the absolute minimum your employer must provide, regardless of your award or enterprise agreement. They have not been comprehensively reviewed since the Fair Work Act commenced in 2009.

The 5 key proposals on the table

1. Five weeks’ annual leave for all full-time workers

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is calling for minimum annual leave to increase from 4 weeks to 5 weeks for full-time workers, and from 5 weeks to 6 weeks for shift workers. This would be the first increase in the national minimum standard since the mid-1970s.

The rationale is grounded in data. Research from the Centre for Future Work found that Australian workers perform an average of 4.5 weeks of unpaid overtime every year. For younger workers aged 18 to 24, that figure rises to 6.4 weeks.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus put it directly: “Extra leave will decrease stress and burnout. Getting back one of these weeks is fair and reasonable.”

The ACTU estimates the change would increase employment costs by approximately 2%, offset over time by lower staff turnover and reduced time lost to injury and stress.

Employer groups, including the Australian Chamber of Commerce, oppose the expansion. HR professionals have raised concerns about workforce planning pressures, particularly for small and medium enterprises. As one HR director noted, “For many SMEs operating with lean teams, an additional week of leave could create real workforce planning pressures, particularly in customer-facing industries.”

2. A national long service leave standard

Currently, long service leave is governed by separate state and territory legislation — each with different qualifying periods, accrual rates, and payment rules. The Law Council of Australia’s submission described this as “a patchwork of provisions” and argued that “the current review of the NES presents a unique opportunity to revitalise the work undertaken by former governments” toward a single national minimum.

For workers, this matters. If you move interstate for work, your long service leave entitlements may not transfer. A national standard would create consistency and portability across state borders.

3. A review of maximum weekly hours

Unions are pushing to reduce the standard maximum from 38 hours to 35 hours per week, with the Australian Services Union proposing a standardised 30.4-hour workweek with no loss of pay. The ACTU has separately called for an 8.5% hourly rate increase to accompany any reduction in hours.

The argument centres on productivity. Real wages would need 10% additional growth to match productivity gains since 2000, according to Centre for Future Work analysis. Unions argue that workers have been delivering more output per hour for decades without seeing it reflected in either their pay or their time off.

4. Expanded protections for women and working parents

Multiple submissions called for:

• Removing or shortening the 12-month continuous service requirement for unpaid parental leave
• Extending leave entitlements to cover reproductive health conditions, including menstruation, endometriosis, menopause, and fertility treatment
• Creating dedicated carer’s leave and extending paid carer’s leave to casual employees
• Broadening the definition of “family” to include culturally significant relationships

5. Protections for casual and insecure workers

Approximately 2.4 million casual employees currently have no access to paid annual leave or personal/carer’s leave. Several submissions advocate extending NES protections to cover these workers, recognising that the traditional full-time employment model no longer reflects how millions of Australians actually work.

What happens next?

The committee’s first public hearing is scheduled for 26 March 2026 in Canberra. This is a review and inquiry process — it does not automatically change the law. The committee will hear evidence, consider submissions, and produce a report with recommendations. Any changes to the NES would require amendments to the Fair Work Act, which means parliamentary debate and legislation.

But the direction of travel matters. This inquiry was referred by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, following a commitment made at the 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit. The government is signalling that it takes these questions seriously.

Why this matters for your pay

Even if these proposals take years to become law, understanding them now puts you in a stronger position. If annual leave increases, your entitlements increase. If long service leave becomes a national standard, you gain portability. If maximum hours are reviewed, your hourly rate effectively rises.

And here is the thing many workers miss: you may already be entitled to more than you think. One in four Australian workers is underpaid right now — not because the laws are inadequate, but because their current entitlements are not being met. Award rates, penalty rates, overtime, superannuation, and leave loading add up. And if your employer is not calculating them correctly, you are losing money every pay cycle.

Before the rules change, it is worth checking whether you are being paid correctly under the rules that already exist.

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