Our purpose is to connect employers and employees with long service leave for the good of Australia’s black coal mining industry.

This was the first year of delivering against our new purpose. We took time to clarify what this purpose meant to us, the industry and our stakeholders. To us, this purpose represents our commitment to be an effective and efficient regulator and manager of long service leave entitlements. It is our motivation for success and commitment to operational excellence. It promotes the benefits for stakeholders in engaging with us and is indicative of what can be expected from Coal LSL on a practical, operational level.

With that context, we have delivered a strong performance against our purpose in 2018–19.

Across the business, our performance was strong with a growth in numbers across most of our operational activities. We processed 14,698 applications for long service leave entitlements and reimbursed employers more than $125 million for paid entitlements. We saw strong growth in numbers of eligible employees and we processed 659 service review applications.

We have truly embraced our role as a regulator and focused heavily on employer compliance. Our team participated in 268 employer meetings, delivering a growth in employer registrations, with 780 employers now registered with the fund.

Most importantly, we connected with the industry.

Our consistent performance on purposeful engagement with industry and key stakeholders has been the highlight of the year and demonstrates commitment to our purpose. We’ve held education workshops for eligible employees, unions and other industry parties. We’ve informed government stakeholders about our scheme and the value of portable long service leave beyond its core role as a workplace benefit. This commitment to engagement is not just about the interests of the fund. We’ve taken the time to listen to our clients and the industry about the areas in which we can improve and those in which we are performing well to ensure we continue to meet their needs and expectations.