Australia High Court rules coal mining long service leave eligibility depends on employee's work, not employer's business

In a 3:2 majority ruling, Australia's High Court clarified eligibility for the coal industry's portable long service leave scheme. The Court held that entitlement may depend on the nature and location of an employee's work rather than the employer's primary business.

The dispute involved Orica Australia, which employed shotfirers at open-cut black coal mines in New South Wales and Queensland. Shotfiring involved placing explosives to expose coal seams for extraction. The Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation disputed whether these shotfirers were "eligible employees" under the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992.

The Court's majority clarified the operation of employer and location provisions in the definition of "eligible employee," determining that workers performing shotfiring at black coal mines qualified for the statutory scheme despite their employer not being primarily engaged in coal mining.