Working Subcontractors

Visit the How to Register page under the Working Subcontractors menu, to register yourself, your business, and any workers or apprentices you employ to perform covered work.

Yes. You must supply information on days worked for your apprentices and all workers. Apprentices are covered from the day they start in the construction industry, provided the work performed is covered by the Scheme.

Employers do not need to pay contributions for apprentices where an apprentice is doing a traditional apprenticeship (Set 1 Apprenticeship) but employers are still required to record the days that apprentices work with CoINVEST. Visit our apprentices webpage for more information.

As a subcontractor, you'll be operating using either a Sole Trader or Partnership ABN. If you have changed the way your business is structured by changing to a Company or Trust ABN, you must call 1300 COINVEST with relevant business information - see the How To Register page for details of the information you must provide to process your change of entity in our system.

The interest rate is reviewed at the end of each financial year and for changes each subsequent year in line with how well CoINVEST’S investment returns have gone in the preceding financial year – if we have a good year, you have a good year! Interest rates can be affected by financial and investment markets both in Australia and internationally, but generally CoINVEST endeavours to offer a great rate of return for WSC Contributions, which is evident when looking at the rates since 2010 as listed below:

• Jul 2019 – Jun 2020: 7.28%
• Jul 2018 – Jun 2019: 7.23%
• Jul 2017 – Jun 2018: 7.88%
• Jul 2016 – Jun 2017: 3.46%
• Jul 2015 – Jun 2016: 8.63%
  
• Jul 2014 – Jun 2015: 11.87%
• Jul 2013 – Jun 2014: 12.82%
• Jul 2012 – Jun 2013: 1.6%
• Jul 2011 – Jun 2012: 8.9475%
• Jul 2010 – Jun 2011: 7.61%

We encourage subcontractors to make the maximum contributions whenever possible (currently equivalent to $100 per month, paid quarterly as a $300 contribution payment) – the more you put in, the more you will get out, and the longer you leave it there, the more interest you will make over time. It’s effectively money for nothing, and can work out really well for subcontractors in the long term.

Visit the How Do I Pay My Quarterly Voucher webpage in the Working Subcontractors menu to read about how to pay using BPay. Alternatively, those who have signed up for online service with CoINVEST can pay via credit card using the payments portal once you log in (see top of page for LOGIN button).

Those who have signed up for online access with CoINVEST can view their total recorded service in the Entitlements menu once they log in (see top of page for LOGIN button). View the Online Services webpage to learn more about how to sign up for online access and how you can easily manage all your Long Service Leave needs online.

If you would like a refund of your voluntary contributions before you have accrued the required seven years of continuous service, you will be entitled only to a refund of the contributions you have put in; you will not be entitled to any accrued interest component. All requests for refunds must be made to CoINVEST in writing – email info@coinvest.com.au confirming your full name, date of birth, address, and CoINVEST number and that you wish to have your voluntary contributions refunded to you. All refunds are processed by cheque.

For those registering as a contributing subcontractor for the first time, we have an introductory offer whereby you can backdate the two most recent contribution periods (2 x 3 month quarters).

Those who have previously registered as a contributing subcontractor, but whose vouchers have ceased to be generated due to periods of non-payment, can only choose to pay the most recently available quarterly contribution period.

Service cannot be backdated for any periods in which you had been a self-employed subcontractor; contributions for subcontractors are completely voluntary and therefore if you choose not to make payments then CoINVEST has no obligation to reverse your choice. However you may be able to apply for an approved break of service.

An approved break of service will not credit you with any further service but instead link up two separate service blocks that are separated by a gap of four or more years, so that your record runs as one whole block of continuous service.

See the Break In Service menu on our Missing Service webpage for information on what to provide and the conditions of applying for an approved break in service.

Those who have signed up for online access with CoINVEST can lodge their claim online by clicking the Submit A Claim button once they log in (see top of page for LOGIN button). View the Online Services webpage to learn more about how to sign up for online access, or visit the Claiming Long Service Leave webpage in the Workers menu to learn more about claiming your Long Service Leave.

Subcontractors often have more than one component to their entitlement by accruing service in two different ways; as well as having been self-employed, many have also accrued service as a worker. Our Claiming Long Service Leave webpage in the Workers section explains the worker component of your claim payment in much more detail.

Any service you have accrued as a Working Subcontractor (WSC) will be paid out according to the value of any voluntary subcontractor contributions you have made over the years plus any applicable interest accrued on that proportionate value, subject to how many weeks of entitlement you are actually claiming in your application. For more information on this component visit the WSC Entitlements page.

Active service is defined as any service which has been accrued within the last four years. If you are a subcontractor, the only way you can accrue service is by making voluntary contributions yourself to CoINVEST – being self-employed; no one else is going to do it for you!

You can choose to stop making voluntary contributions at any time (after all, they are voluntary) but if you miss more than two consecutive quarterly payments, CoINVEST will cease to generate contribution periods for you going forward, as we’ll assume you just don’t want to contribute anymore.

When a period of inactivity up to four years is triggered, your most recent service block will be deemed inactive and you will not be able to build any further service on top of what you had already accrued in that block. You cannot backdate any service for any times in which you had been a self-employed subcontractor, though you can choose to pay the most recent quarterly contribution period.

However you may be able to apply for an approved break of service – this will not credit you with any further service but instead link up two separate service blocks that are separated by a gap of four or more years, so that your record runs as one whole block of continuous service.

See the Break In Service menu on our Missing Service webpage for information on what to provide and the conditions of applying for an approved break in service.