Moving between NSW agencies: check the leave records, not just the funding transfer
Moving between NSW public-sector agencies can involve both a transfer of leave records and financial adjustments between the employers. Those are related processes, but they are not the same thing.
Treasury Circular TC21-05 deals with funding long service leave and transferred officers' leave entitlements. It applies to Government Sector Finance agencies, excluding universities and their controlled entities. The current accounting companion is TPG24-23, which replaced the older TC21-03 referred to in the circular.
Who pays whom?
The circular distinguishes Crown-funded agencies, agencies contributing to the Crown leave pool, and agencies funding their own liabilities. Depending on the transfer, money may move between agencies or the Crown, or the change may be handled through records without a cash transfer.
A lack of a cash transfer is therefore not, on its own, evidence that the employee's service or leave has disappeared. Conversely, an accounting transfer does not establish every aspect of an individual's legal entitlement.
Reconcile before the move
The circular requires the transferring agency to reconcile leave records to employee records before a long service leave transfer and to retain supporting transfer and reconciliation records. That makes the paperwork important, especially where there have been earlier transfers, changed hours or disputed service periods.
A practical employee checklist
Before moving, request a dated statement of leave balances and recognised service. Ask the receiving agency which balances and service periods it will recognise, and under which applicable instrument. After commencement, compare the opening payroll record with the agreed transfer information and raise differences promptly in writing.
Do not confuse an internal funding threshold with the qualifying period for an employee benefit. Nor should an agency accounting estimate be used as a personal payout calculation. Eligibility, portability and payment need to be checked against the instruments governing the particular employment and transfer.
This article explains the administrative funding framework. It does not promise that leave transfers automatically between every public-sector employer or determine an individual's entitlement.
Official sources
Sources checked 13 November 2026. These are independent explanatory guides, not government publications or government endorsement. Original documents are linked rather than reproduced because whole-document reproduction rights have not been established.
Comments