(1) Subject to this Act, the period of service of an employee for the purposes of this Act is the period during which he or she has been employed continuously in Government Service.
(2) Where, prior to his or her current period of employment in Government Service, an employee was employed continuously in:
(a) any service of a State;
(b) any service of an authority of a State;
(c) the Public Service of a Territory, the ACT teaching service, or the Teaching Service of the Northern Territory;
(ca) any service of an authority of the Northern Territory, not being employment at a time when the authority was a public authority of the Commonwealth;
(cb) any service of an authority of the Australian Capital Territory, not being employment at a time when the authority was a public authority of the Commonwealth;
(d) any service of an authority established or constituted by or under a law of an external Territory;
(e) the Public Service of the former Territory of Nauru; or
(f) other relevant service;
and the period for which he or she was so employed was continuous with his or her current period of employment, his or her period of service for the purposes of this Act includes, subject to this Act, the period for which he or she was so employed.
(3) Where an employee has been employed:
(a) in 2 or more of the services referred to in paragraphs (2)(a), (b), (c), (ca), (d), (e) and (f); or
(b) in 1 or more of those services and, at any time prior to his or her current period of employment, in Government Service;
and the periods for which he or she was so employed are continuous with one another and with his or her current period of employment, the sum of these periods of employment shall, subject to this Act, be included in his or her period of service for the purposes of this Act.
(4) The period of service of an employee does not include any period during which:
(a) he or she was or is employed in a qualifying service in an honorary capacity and was not or is not also employed in a qualifying service in some other capacity, not being employment in respect of which he or she was or is remunerated by fees, allowances or commission only; or
(b) he or she was or is remunerated, in respect of employment in a qualifying service, by fees, allowances or commission only and was not or is not remunerated in respect of other employment in a qualifying service in some other manner.
(5) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(f), employment:
(a) as a member of the Defence Force;
(b) as a person holding an office, or employed, under the Reserve Bank Act 1959 or the Commonwealth Banks Act 1959 ; or
(c) outside Australia as a person appointed or engaged by the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act for employment outside Australia only;
shall be deemed to be employment in other relevant service.