Public holidays in Australia are the holidays recognised in law in Australia. Although they are declared on a state and territory basis, they comprise a mixture of nationally celebrated days and holidays exclusive to the individual jurisdictions.

Public holidays function as non-working days, with workers generally receiving full paid leave independently of annual leave. Those working on public holidays receive additional penalty rates of pay. Where they fall on a weekend, public holidays are generally declared in lieu for the following Monday.

Statutory holidays in Australia are based on varying religious, cultural and civic observations. Christian celebrations, namely Christmas and Easter, are some of the most significant ones observed. A Labour Day is observed in each state and territory, although it is varied in date. There are two significant national days, Australia Day (26 January) and Anzac Day (25 April), which are nationwide public holidays.

When a public holiday occurs on a Friday or Monday, the three-day period is colloquially known as a "long weekend".

Nature of public holidays

Traditionally, Australians in employment (whether in the public or private sector) have had the right to take a public holiday off work with regular pay. In recent years this tradition has changed somewhat. For example, businesses that normally open on a public holiday may request employees to work on that day. Employers can deny employees a holiday only on reasonable business grounds.

From 2006, WorkChoices eliminated the entitlement to penalty rates in many workplaces; however since the implementation of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the modern awards in 2010, most public-holiday penalty rates have increased dramatically. employees generally receive pay at a penalty rate—usually 2.5 times (known as "double time and a half") the base rate of pay—when they work on a public holiday.

Besides designating days as public holidays, Australian authorities also designate some of these days as restricted trading days.

Public holidays are determined by a combination of:

  • statutes, with specific gazetting of public holidays
  • industrial awards and agreements

If a standard public holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute public holiday will sometimes be observed on the first non-weekend day (usually Monday) after the weekend, whether by virtue of the public holiday legislation or by ad hoc proclamation. Workers required to work on a public holiday or substituted public holiday will usually be entitled to remuneration at a holiday penalty rate.

All states have their own public holidays in addition to national public holidays, and in some states certain public holidays, such as Melbourne Cup Day, are in force in only part of a state.

Alcohol licences in several states prevent sale of alcohol on certain public holidays, such as Good Friday.

Public holidays

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|-

! width=10%|Date

! width=10%|ACT

! width=10%|NSW

! width=10%|NT

! width=10%|QLD

! width=10%|SA

! width=10%|TAS

! width=10%|VIC

! width=10%|WA

|-

| 1 January || colspan="8"

|-

| 26 January || colspan="8"

|-

| 2nd Monday in February || || || || || || || ||

|-

| 1st Monday in March || || || || || || || ||

|-

| 2nd Monday in March || || || || || || || ||

|-

| rowspan="5" | Variable date || colspan="8"

|-

| colspan="3" || || || || ||

|-

| colspan="2" || || || || || ||

|-

| colspan="8"

|-

| || || || || || || ||

|-

| 25 April || colspan="8"

|-

| 1st Monday in May || || || || Other Queensland show holidays: Show holiday dates | Public, school and show holidays

: C = Conditional: Public Service employees or where defined in Employment Agreement/Award

: H = Hobart area only

: NH = Not Hobart area

: P Part day, from 7 pm to midnight (6 pm to midnight for QLD)

: † Often substituted with the Geelong Cup for Geelong residents. For regional Victoria other local cup days are sometimes substituted.

: * Depends on occupation, generally from 6 pm to midnight

Substitute holidays for holidays falling on a weekend

When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following work day may be considered a public holiday depending on the state/territory and the holiday in question.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|-

! width=15% | Name

! width=10% | ACT

! width=10% | NSW

! width=10% | NT

! width=10% | QLD

! width=10% | SA

! width=10% | WA|| Yes (for both 2026 and 2027)|| colspan="2" | Yes (only if Sunday) || colspan="3" | No || Yes

|-

| Christmas Eve || colspan="2" | Not applicable (not a holiday) || colspan="3" | No || colspan="3" | Not applicable (not a holiday)

|-

| Christmas Day || colspan="8" | Yes

|-

| Boxing Day / Proclamation Day || colspan="8" | Yes

|-

| New Year's Eve || colspan="2" | Not applicable (not a holiday) || No || Not applicable (not a holiday) || No || colspan="3" | Not applicable (not a holiday)

|}

Holidays that always fall on a particular day of the week are not listed in this table. Prior to 2008, Victorian law only specified substitute holidays for New Year and Boxing Day, and only if they fell on a Sunday. From 2008, Victorian law specifies the substitute holidays in the table above. In the year 2038, Anzac Day will coincide with Easter Sunday.

Australia Day

Nationally, Australia Day was originally celebrated on 30 July 1915.

Recorded celebrations of the 26 January date back to 1808 in Australia, and in 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie held the first official celebration of Australia Day. 26 January was chosen because it is the day of the establishment of the first British settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788. It was made a public holiday in New South Wales in 1836, and Victoria adopted the day as a public holiday in 1931. The 26 January commenced to be recognised by all states and territories as Australia Day in 1935 (pre 150th Anniversary) and all States except SA observed it from the 1888 centenary.

Australia Day has been celebrated as a national public holiday on 26 January since 1994.

Since 1960, the winner of the Australian of the Year award is announced by the Prime Minister on the eve of Australia Day (25 Jan).

Labour Day

Labour Day commemorates the achievements of the Australian labour movement. The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. On 21 April 1856 Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as the first organised workers in the world to achieve an eight-hour day with no loss of pay, which subsequently inspired the celebration of Labour Day and May Day. In Tasmania the public holiday is called Eight Hours Day and in the Northern Territory it is called May Day.

The Labour Day public holiday varies considerably between the various states and territories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Western Australia, it is the first Monday in March. In both Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March. In the Northern Territory, and in Queensland There is no firm rule to determine this date before it is proclaimed, though it is typically the last Monday of September or the first Monday of October: in 2011 the King's Birthday holiday in Western Australia was moved from Monday, 3 October 2011 to Friday, 28 October 2011 to coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was held in Perth. In parts of the Pilbara, it is celebrated on a different date from the rest of Western Australia, and it may even be celebrated on different dates in different parts of the Pilbara. In Queensland, it is celebrated on the 1st Monday in October. In the Northern Territory fireworks remain available to the public on 1 July for the celebration of Territory Day.

Christmas Day

Christmas is observed on 25 December each year to commemorate the birth of Jesus. In Australia, it was introduced with British settlement in 1788 as the cultural norms were transferred to the new colonies.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is on the day after Christmas, i.e. 26 December each year, except in South Australia where it is replaced by Proclamation Day.

Boxing Day is noted for the start of the post-Christmas sale season. The day has also become a significant sporting day. Melbourne hosts the Boxing Day Test match; the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race also starts on this day.

Other holidays

  • Every public holiday and Sunday is a bank holiday in South Australia.
  • Western Australia Day in Western Australia on the first Monday in June.
  • Picnic Day in the Northern Territory in August, and also May Day.
  • Tasmania has Easter Tuesday as a bank holiday (for bank and government employees only).
  • New South Wales has the first Monday in August as a bank holiday (for bank employees only).
  • Many cities and towns observe local public holidays for their local Agricultural Show. For example:
  • Darwin Show Day in Darwin area in late July
  • Royal Queensland Show Day in Brisbane area in August

Public holidays by state

Queensland

The days are set in the Holidays Act 1983. Most public holidays include a second public holiday on a week-day if they happen to fall on Saturday or Sunday. In which case, both days are public holidays.

  • New Year's Day: 1 January, or if 1 January is a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday.
  • Australia Day: 26 January, or if 26 January is a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday.
  • Good Friday: on the date it is publicly observed, always a Friday.
  • The day after Good Friday: Always a Saturday, one day after Good Friday.
  • Easter Monday: The next Monday after Good Friday.
  • Anzac Day: 25 April, or if 25 April is a Sunday, 26 April.
  • Labour Day ("May Day"): 1st Monday in May.

Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory

Most New South Wales public holidays are public holidays in the Australian Capital Territory, with the addition of Canberra Day (which, since 2007, has fallen on the second Monday of March) and Reconciliation Day, which holiday falls on the Monday closest to 27 May.

South Australia

Public holidays in South Australia are provided by the Public Holidays Act 2023, assented on 7 December 2023, which repealed the Holidays Act 1910. The following days are fixed as public holidays each year:

  • 1 January (New Year's Day); if New Year's Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the following Monday will be a public holiday in addition to that day.
  • 26 January (Australia Day); if Australia Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the following Monday will be a public holiday instead of that day.
  • The second Monday in March (Adelaide Cup Day)
  • The Friday publicly observed as Good Friday (Good Friday)
  • The day after Good Friday (Easter Saturday)
  • The Sunday following Good Friday (Easter Sunday)
  • The Monday following Good Friday (Easter Monday)
  • 25 April (Anzac Day)
  • The second Monday in June (King's Official Birthday)
  • The first Monday in October (Labour Day)
  • 24 December (Christmas Eve); Christmas Eve is a part-day public holiday from 7pm until midnight.
  • 25 December (Christmas Day); if Christmas Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the following Monday will be a public holiday in addition to that day.
  • 26 December (Proclamation Day); if Proclamation Day falls on a Saturday, the following Monday will be a public holiday in addition to that day. If it falls on a Sunday or a Monday, the following Tuesday will be a public holiday as well.
  • 31 December (New Year's Eve); New Year's Eve is a part-day public holiday from 7pm until midnight.

The Governor may declare some other day to be a public holiday instead of a day listed. The Governor may also appoint a day to be an additional public holiday or part-day public holiday throughout the State, or within a locality specified within the proclamation. All public holidays and substitute public holidays are bank holidays.

In August 2015, the day before the AFL Grand Final, as well as Easter Sunday, were gazetted as Public Holidays within Victoria. The date of this holiday is as gazetted by the Victorian Government and cannot be accurately predicted. In 2019, the Victorian Parliament legislated the AFL Grand Final public holiday by amending the Public Holidays Act 1993 (Vic).

The Victorian public holidays are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Name !! Date

|-

| New Year's Day || 1 January

|-

| Australia Day || 26 January

|-

| Labour Day || 2nd Monday in March

|-

| Good Friday || Friday before Easter

|-

| Saturday before Easter Sunday || Day before Easter

|-

| Easter Sunday || Day of Easter

|-

| Easter Monday || Day after Easter

|-

| ANZAC Day || 25 April

|-

| King's Birthday || 2nd Monday in June

|-

| Friday before the AFL Grand Final|| Variable date (usually late September/early October)

|-

| Melbourne Cup Day || 1st Tuesday of November*

|-

| Christmas Day || 25 December

|-

| Boxing Day || 26 December

|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Melbourne Cup Day is observed in most of the state, but various cup days and show days in the state's west are locally substituted. See the list at Non-Metropolitan Public Holiday Dates (Victoria Online).

Melbourne Show Day used to be observed on the Thursday in the last full week of September as a half-day public holiday—later changing to full day—until 1994 (abolished by the state government). Easter Tuesday was observed as a Bank Holiday in Victoria until 1994 (also abolished by the state government).

Western Australia

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Name !! Date

|-

| New Year's Day || 1 January *

|-

| Australia Day || 26 January +

|-

| Labour Day || 1st Monday in March

|-

| Good Friday || Friday before Easter

|-

| Easter Monday || Day after Easter

|-

| Anzac Day || 25 April *

|-

|Western Australia Day

|First Monday in June

|-

| King's Birthday || Last Monday of September #

|-

| Christmas || 25 December *

|-

| Boxing Day || 26 December *

|}

  • *If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is also observed as a public holiday
  • #The King's Birthday may be held on a different date in regional communities

In September 2025 the Cook government announced its intention to introduce two new public holidays and move three others to align with dates in other states from 2028. Easter Saturday would be introduced on the day before Easter Sunday and Perth Royal Show day on the first Monday of the September / October school holidays. They were introduced in 1947 for workers working on the Sabbath, as most workers were Christian, while today, these rates of pay are set by the Fair Work Commission.

See also

  • Australian labour law
  • Australian Pay and Classification Scales

References

  • Public holidays - Fair Work Ombudsman
  • Australian public holidays - Tourism Australia