Public holidays in Australia are declared on a state and territory basis.
Nature of public holidays Traditionally, work, public or private,
were entitled to take off a public holiday with regular pay. In recent
years this tradition has changed somewhat. For example, businesses that
are normally open on a public holiday may request employees to work on the
day, and refusal can only be denied by the employer on reasonable business
grounds. The entitlement to penalty rates was
eliminated entirely in many workplaces under WorkChoices; however since the
implementation of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the modern awards in 2010, most
public holiday penalty rates have increased dramatically. Currently,
employees are generally paid at a penalty rate—usually 2.5 times the base
rate of pay. Besides designating days as public
holidays, some of these days are also designated as restricted trading days.
Public holidays are determined by a combination of:
Statutes, with specific gazetting of public holidays; and
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 after the weekend, whether by virtue of the public holiday
legislation or by ad hoc proclamation. If a worker is required to work on a
public holiday or substituted public holiday, they will usually be entitled
to be paid at a holiday penalty rate. All states have their own public
holidays in addition to national public holidays, and in some states public
holidays are provided on a local basis, such as Melbourne Cup Day.
Alcohol licenses in many states prevent sale of alcohol on certain public
holidays, such as Good Friday. Public holidays
Legend: C = Conditional: Public Service
employees or where defined in Employment Agreement/Award
H = Hobart area only NH = Not Hobart area
^ Note that when Family and Community Day falls on Labour Day holiday in the
ACT, this holiday changes to the 2nd Monday of 3rd term school holidays.
~ From 7pm to midnight † Outside of Melbourne, another day may
be substituted instead. * The holiday is legislated for the 3rd
Monday of May. Since 2006 it has been moved via the issuing of a special
Proclamation by the Governor, to the 2nd Monday of March, on a trial basis.
** Depends on occupation, generally from 6pm 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. NOTE: 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. Since Easter Monday can occur as late as
26 April it is possible for the Easter Monday holiday to coincide with Anzac
Day, as occurred in 2011. State Acts do not give a provision to separate the
days when this occurs, so no additional public holiday is given by law. However
an extra day is usually proclaimed by the minister, so as to have a steady
number of public holidays each year. In the year 2038, Anzac Day will coincide
with Easter Sunday. = Australia Day =
Australia Day is Australia's national day celebrated on 26 January annually in
all states and territories. 26 January was chosen because it is the day of the
establishment of the first English settlement at Port Jackson by Captain
Arthur Phillip in 1788. Since 1960, the winner of the Australian
of the Year award is announced by the Prime Minister on the eve of Australia
Day. Recorded celebrations date back to 1808
in Australia, and in 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie held the first
official celebration of Australia Day. It was made a public holiday in New
South Wales in 1836, and Victoria adopted the day as a public holiday in
1931. It commenced to be celebrated by all states and territories in 1946, but
began to be actually celebrated on 26 January from 1994.
= 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 organized 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, Queensland, New South Wales
and South Australia. In both Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in
March. In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In the
Northern Territory it is the first Monday in May.
= Easter = The days of Easter vary each year
depending on the day determined by the Western Christian religious calendar.
Until 1994 Easter Tuesday was a public holiday in Victoria. For the basis of
how the days are determined see Easter. The NSW Public Holidays Act 2010 refers
to the day after Good Friday as "Easter Saturday," but the Victorian Public
Holidays Act 1993 refers to it merely as "the Saturday before Easter Sunday."
= ANZAC Day = ANZAC Day is a day on which the country
remembers those citizens who fell fighting or who served the country in
wars. ANZAC Day is commemorated on 25 April every year. The tradition began to
remember the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who landed at
Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. ANZAC Day commemoration features marches
by veterans and by solemn "Dawn Services", a tradition started in
Albany, Western Australia on 25 April 1923 and now held at war memorials
around the country, accompanied by thoughts of those lost at war to the
ceremonial sounds of The Last Post on the bugle. The fourth stanza of Laurence
Binyon's poem For the Fallen is often recited.
= Queen's Birthday = In all states and territories except
Western Australia, Queen's Birthday is observed on the second Monday in June.
Because Western Australia celebrates Western Australia Day on the first
Monday in June, the Governor of Western Australia proclaims the day on which the
state will observe the Queen's Birthday, based on school terms and the Perth
Royal Show. 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 Queen'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, which was held in Perth. In
2012, Queensland celebrated the Queen's Birthday on the first weekend in
October, the June holiday for that year being a special holiday to mark the
Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Following 2012, the holiday has reverted to its normal
June date in Queensland in line with the other eastern states.
The day has been celebrated since 1788, when Governor Arthur Phillip declared a
holiday to mark the birthday of King George III. Until 1936 it was held on
the actual birthday of the Monarch, but after the death of King George V it was
decided to keep the date at mid-year. On that day the "Queen's Birthday
honours list" is released naming new members of the Order of Australia and
other Australian honours. This occurs on the date observed in the Eastern States,
not the date observed in Western Australia.
The Queen's Birthday weekend and Empire Day, 24 May, were long the traditional
times for public fireworks displays in Australia. Although they still occur,
the tradition has recently been overshadowed by larger New Year's Eve
fireworks, as the sale of fireworks to the public was progressively banned by
the states in the 1980s. The sale of fireworks in the Australian Capital
Territory was also banned on 24 August 2009.
= 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. Though a Christian religious festival, it does not breach
the constitution's separation of Church and State provision, because it is
declared under State law, which is not subject to the provision.
= Boxing Day = Boxing Day is on the day after
Christmas, i.e. 26 December each year, except in South Australia. In South
Australia, the first otherwise working day after Christmas is a public holiday
called 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 and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht
Race which also starts on this day. Other holidays
Sunday is nominally a public holiday in South Australia.
Proclamation Day is in December in South Australia only.
Canberra Day is held on the 2nd Monday in March in the ACT. Prior to 2008, this
holiday was celebrated on the 3rd Monday of March.
Melbourne Cup Day is held on the first Tuesday of November - the day of the
Melbourne Cup. It was originally observed only in the Melbourne
metropolitan area. From 2007 to 2009 in ACT, Melbourne Cup day was also a
holiday called "Family and Community Day". The holiday continues from 2010
but no longer coincides with Melbourne Cup day. In Victoria, the Public
Holidays Act 1993 was amended from 24 September 2008 and made the Melbourne
Cup Day holiday applicable in all parts of the state. It also made the holiday
applicable to employees covered by federal awards.
Recreation Day is the first Monday of November, and celebrated in Northern
Tasmania where Regatta Day is not a holiday.
Regatta Day is the second Monday in February, and is celebrated in Southern
Tasmania. Previously it was held on the second Tuesday in February.
Geelong Cup Day is held on the fourth Wednesday of October in the city of
Geelong, Victoria Queensland Day is celebrated on 6 June
each year, but not with a public holiday.
Adelaide Cup Day is held on the second Monday in March 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.
New South Wales has the first Monday in August as a bank holiday.
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 Gold Coast Show in Gold Coast area in
October Long weekends
Australia is sometimes nicknamed the "land of the long weekend". However,
Australians have "fewer public holidays than workers in most other
industrialised countries." Public holidays by state
= Queensland = The days are set in the "Holidays Act
1983".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, and if 1
January is a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday.
Australia Day: 26 January, and 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, and if 25 April is
a Sunday, 26 April. Birthday of the Sovereign: 2nd Monday of
the month of June. @@(from 2016 this holiday will occur on the first Monday
in October) Labour Day: 1st Monday of the month of
October. @@(from 2016 will occur in May) Christmas Day: 25 December.
Boxing Day: 26 December. If Christmas day is a Saturday or
Sunday, then 27 December is also a public holiday.
If Boxing day is a Saturday or Sunday, then 28 December is also a public
holiday. Because of the variable days of Easter,
Anzac day could fall on an Easter holiday. When ANZAC falls on Saturday,
there is no week day public holiday. In such situations it is generally expected
that the minister will proclaim extra public holidays on week-days to ensure
every year has the same number of public holidays on week-days.
The minister of the state may proclaim and adjustments or additions, such as
the date of the Brisbane Ekka Show day holiday. This day has historically
always been proclaimed for the second Wednesday in August, except if there are
5 Wednesday's in August, in which case the third Wednesday in August.Public
holiday dates for 2011-2015 In 2011 ANZAC Day and Easter Monday fell
on the same day, and so the minister moved Easter Monday to Tuesday.
In 2011, Queensland changed the gazetted public holidays in the Holiday Act where
if a public holiday falls on a Sunday the following day will be an additional
public holiday, rather than a substitute day. In addition to this, there was a
special Queen's Jubilee public holiday in June 2012 only and the Queen's
Birthday public holiday was moved to the first Monday in October. After 2012, the
Queen's Birthday will be celebrated in Queensland on the second Monday in June
in line with the other eastern states. @@ subject to relevant legislation being
passed in Parliament. = New South Wales =
Public holidays generally follow the national pattern, but special cases are
resolved by the State Government and advised by proclamation. Details of
future holidays can be found on the NSW Industrial Relations website. Public
holidays are regulated by the New South Wales Public Holidays Act 2010 No 115,
which supersedes the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912 No 43.
The first Monday in August is a Bank Holiday, during which banks and
financial institutions are closed. = Victoria =
Public holidays in Victoria are regulated by the Victorian Public
Holidays Act 1993. Victorian employees fall under the
Workchoices system either as coming within the Commonwealth constitutional
power or because of Victoria's referral of its legislative powers to the
Commonwealth for particular workplace relations matters.
Employee entitlements to public holidays and additional pay depend on whether
they are covered by a federal award or agreement.
Employees not covered by a federal award or agreement are entitled to public
holidays under the Victorian Public Holidays Act 1993. Also, all permanent
employees not covered by a federal award or agreement who would normally work on
a public holiday are entitled to the holiday without loss of pay. Their
employers are not required to provide additional payment if they work on a
public holiday, but this doesn't exclude the possibility of employees and
employers negotiating for additional pay.
Employees who are covered by a federal award or agreement are entitled to
public holidays as provided by the relevant federal award or agreement and
the Public Holidays Act 1993. Many federal awards and agreements also
provide for additional penalty rates for work performed on a public holiday.
Restricted shop trading laws apply to Good Friday, Christmas Day and before 1
pm on Anzac Day. On these days only exempted businesses are permitted to
open for trading. All public holidays and substitute public holidays are bank
holidays. In August 2015, the day prior to the
Australian Football League Grand Final, as well as Easter Sunday, were gazetted
as Public Holidays within Victoria. The Victorian public holidays are as
follows: * 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 [1].
Melbourne Show Day used to be observed on the Thursday in the last full week of
September as a half-day public holiday—later cahnging to full-day—until
1994. Easter Tuesday was observed as a Bank Holiday in Victoria until 1994.
References National Public Holidays
Australian Government - Public Holidays - Public holidays for each Australian
state Australian Council of Trades Unions -
Library: Public Holidays