Australia does not have a single public-holiday calendar. Each state and territory has its own dates, and local holidays create further differences within some jurisdictions.
The most important difference in 2026 is Anzac Day. It falls on Saturday 25 April. New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory also observe a public holiday on Monday 27 April. Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory do not.
This guide compares the full-day holidays in the calculator's main state and territory profiles. Local holidays and part-day holidays are identified separately because they do not apply throughout a state or territory.
Dates shared across Australia
Every state and territory calendar includes these occasions in 2026:
- New Year's Day: Thursday 1 January
- Australia Day: Monday 26 January
- Good Friday: Friday 3 April
- Easter Monday: Monday 6 April
- Anzac Day: Saturday 25 April
- Christmas Day: Friday 25 December
- Boxing Day or South Australia's Proclamation Day holiday: Saturday 26 December or its statutory substitute
The date entries are not always identical. Some jurisdictions retain a weekend date and add a weekday holiday. Tasmania sometimes lists only the weekday replacement.
Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday also differ:
| Jurisdiction | Easter Saturday, 4 April | Easter Sunday, 5 April |
|---|---|---|
| NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory and ACT | Public holiday | Public holiday |
| Western Australia | Not a public holiday | Public holiday |
| Tasmania | Not a general statewide holiday | Not a general statewide holiday |
WorkSafe Tasmania also lists Easter Tuesday, 7 April 2026, but says it generally applies only to the Tasmanian Public Service. The calculator's general Tasmania profile therefore leaves that date available as a working day.
What each calculator profile contains
The next table counts the full-date entries in each calculator profile. Where a weekend holiday creates an additional weekday holiday, both dates appear in the first total. The second total counts only holidays from Monday to Friday, because an ordinary working-day calculation already excludes weekends.
| Profile | Full-date entries | Weekday holiday exclusions | 2026 dates that distinguish the profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 13 | 9 | Additional Anzac holiday 27 April; King's Birthday 8 June; Labour Day 5 October |
| Victoria | 14 | 10 | Labour Day 9 March; King's Birthday 8 June; AFL Grand Final Friday 25 September; Melbourne Cup Day 3 November by default |
| Queensland | 13 | 9 | Labour Day 4 May; Brisbane-area show holiday 12 August; King's Birthday 5 October |
| Western Australia | 13 | 10 | Labour Day 2 March; additional Anzac holiday 27 April; WA Day 1 June; King's Birthday 28 September |
| South Australia | 13 | 9 | Adelaide Cup Day 9 March; Labour Day 5 October; Proclamation Day 26 December and additional holiday 28 December |
| Tasmania | 9 | 8 | Eight Hours Day 9 March; no general Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday or Easter Tuesday |
| Northern Territory | 13 | 9 | May Day 4 May; King's Birthday 8 June; Picnic Day 3 August |
| Australian Capital Territory | 15 | 11 | Canberra Day 9 March; additional Anzac holiday 27 April; Reconciliation Day 1 June; Labour Day 5 October |
These totals describe dates in the calendar. They do not state how many paid days off an employee receives. That depends on the employee's ordinary hours and the award, agreement or other terms that apply.
Why Anzac Day changes the weekday count
The official calendars use two different treatments for Saturday 25 April:
| Calendar treatment | Jurisdictions |
|---|---|
| Saturday 25 April and additional public holiday Monday 27 April | NSW, ACT and WA |
| Saturday 25 April only | Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory |
NSW and the ACT declared Monday 27 April as an additional public holiday for 2026. Western Australian law also provides an additional Monday when Anzac Day falls on a weekend. The other five calendars retain Saturday 25 April without adding a Monday.
This difference changes a working-day calculation. A period that includes Monday 27 April will exclude that date in NSW, WA and the ACT, but count it in the other five jurisdictions.
Boxing Day: Tasmania uses a different rule
Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026. Most state and territory calendars list both Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December. South Australia calls the Saturday Proclamation Day holiday and lists Monday as an additional holiday.
Tasmania is different. Section 4 of the Statutory Holidays Act 2000 replaces Boxing Day with the following Monday when 26 December falls on a Saturday. Its 2026 statewide table therefore lists Monday 28 December, not Saturday 26 December, as Boxing Day.
All eight profiles exclude Monday 28 December from a Monday-to-Friday count. Tasmania's treatment matters if the governing rule refers to Boxing Day itself or uses Saturdays in a different way.
When the main profile is not enough
A state or territory profile cannot include every holiday that applies only in a particular area or industry. The official 2026 calendars include these narrower dates:
- NSW Bank Holiday: Monday 3 August applies to retail bank branches and certain financial institutions. The NSW Government says it is not a declared public holiday for everyone, so it is not in the general NSW profile.
- Victoria: Melbourne Cup Day is the statewide default, but a non-metropolitan council may arrange an alternative local holiday. The main Victoria profile uses Tuesday 3 November; supported regional selectors replace it where local data is available.
- Queensland: Wednesday 12 August is the Royal Queensland Show holiday for the Brisbane area. Other districts have their own show holidays. The main Queensland profile uses the Brisbane date, while supported regional selectors use local dates.
- Western Australia: some regional areas observe the King's Birthday on another date. Karratha and Port Hedland use Monday 3 August in 2026 instead of 28 September.
- Tasmania: Royal Hobart Regatta, Recreation Day and several show or cup dates apply only in stated areas. Use a Tasmania regional profile where one is available.
- Northern Territory: Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Borroloola have different show holidays. These are regional rather than Territory-wide dates.
Part-day holidays require different treatment. Christmas Eve is a public holiday from 6pm to midnight in Queensland and from 7pm to midnight in South Australia and the Northern Territory. South Australia and the Northern Territory also observe New Year's Eve from 7pm to midnight. Because the calculator counts whole dates, it displays these periods as information rather than excluding the whole day.
The general Tasmania profile shows how these distinctions affect the calendar. It contains nine full-date entries. Eight fall on weekdays, and Anzac Day is the only weekend entry. Easter Tuesday is not included, and Boxing Day appears on Monday 28 December rather than Saturday 26 December.
How to check the profile you are using
Select the relevant State or Territory, then open the 2026 Year Summary or calendar view. The named dates should match the corresponding government list. If you are calculating for Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory or regional Western Australia, also check whether the location has a regional option.
The distinction between calendar entries and weekday exclusions is important. A weekend holiday can appear in the calendar without reducing the number of Monday-to-Friday working days. An additional Monday holiday does reduce that number.
The calendar does not set employment entitlements
The Fair Work Ombudsman says public holidays form part of the National Employment Standards for employees in the national workplace relations system. The calendar supplies the relevant dates, but the workplace rules supply the entitlement:
- an employee is generally entitled to the public holidays that apply where they are based for work, not where they happen to be working that day;
- full-time and part-time employees are paid their base rate for ordinary hours they would otherwise have worked on the holiday;
- an employee is not paid under that rule if they had no ordinary hours on the day; and
- awards and agreements may provide penalty rates, other payments or an agreed substitute day.
The calculator can identify a public holiday and show whether the date was excluded. An employee's award, agreement and ordinary hours determine questions about pay or working on that date.
Sources and verification
Sources checked on 4 August 2026:
- NSW Government: NSW public holidays, the 2026 dates, additional Anzac holiday, Bank Holiday limitation and local-date distinctions.
- Business Victoria: Victorian public holidays 2026, the statewide dates and Melbourne Cup alternative-locality note.
- Queensland Government: Public holidays, the 2026 calendar, Brisbane show holiday and Christmas Eve part-day holiday.
- Western Australian Government: Public holidays in Western Australia, the 2026 dates, Anzac treatment and regional King's Birthday dates.
- SafeWork SA: Public holidays, the 2026 dates, Proclamation Day and part-day holidays.
- WorkSafe Tasmania: Public holidays, statewide, restricted and regional dates.
- Tasmanian Legislation: Statutory Holidays Act 2000, section 4, the replacement-only rules for weekend New Year's Day, Australia Day and Boxing Day.
- Northern Territory Government: NT public and regional holidays, Territory-wide, regional and part-day dates.
- ACT Government: ACT Public Holidays 2026, the full ACT list and additional Anzac holiday.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Public holidays, workplace location, substitution and entitlement guidance.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Public holidays fact sheet, ordinary-hours pay and reasonable requests or refusals.
The official lists confirm the dates and distinctions above as at 4 August 2026. Local dates and one-off declarations should be checked again for the year and place used in the calculation.
