Australian court rules do not use one method for calculating time. Some count calendar days unless the period is short. Others use calendar days throughout and adjust only a closed final day. Christmas exclusions may apply to every period, or only to particular documents.
Select Court Rules only after identifying the court, the rule that fixes the period and the event from which time runs. The selected court profile then applies the corresponding threshold, open-day calendar, final-day adjustment and any fixed recess exclusion.
Start with the rule and its boundaries
First check whether the rule uses an ordinary period or clear days. An ordinary forward count generally excludes the event date and includes the final day. A clear-days period excludes both. A notice period is not automatically a clear-days period; the governing words must require that treatment.
Next check whether the court changes the method for short periods. The table shows the profiles represented in the calculator. An open day is a day on which the relevant registry, office or court is open under that profile.
| Court profile | Ordinary counting rule | Christmas or vacation treatment |
|---|---|---|
| High Court | Five days or less: registry-open days. Six days or more: calendar days. | Registry closure from Christmas Day to New Year's Day is part of the open-day calendar. Select the registry location because state and territory holidays also matter. |
| Federal Court | Five days or less: business days. Six days or more: calendar days. | 24 December to 14 January is always left out of a period fixed by the Rules or an order. |
| New South Wales | Five days or less: registry-open days. Six days or more: calendar days. | No general court-vacation exclusion. |
| Victoria | Five days or less: office-open days. Six days or more: calendar days. | 24 December to 9 January is always left out unless the Court orders otherwise. |
| Western Australia, superior courts | Six days or less: Central Office open days. Seven days or more: calendar days. | Optional 24 December to 15 January control, limited to pleadings and notices of appeal covered by Order 3 rule 3. |
| Western Australia, Magistrates Court | Calendar days, with last-day rollover. | No general vacation exclusion in this profile. |
| Queensland | Calendar days, with last-day rollover. | No general vacation exclusion. |
| South Australia | Calendar days, with last-day rollover for a prospective filing deadline. | Optional 25 December to 1 January control, limited to the documents listed in rule 2.2(5). |
| Tasmania | Five days or less: office-open days. Six days or more: calendar days. | Optional 23 December to 7 January control, limited to the filing, amendment or delivery of a pleading or appearance. |
| Australian Capital Territory | Calendar days, with last-day rollover. | No general vacation exclusion. |
| Northern Territory | Five days or less: Registry-open days. Six days or more: calendar days. | 24 December to 9 January is always left out unless the Court orders otherwise. |
A last-day rule does not remove every weekend or holiday within a calendar-day period. It changes the date only when the final day is one on which the act cannot be done.
Federal Court example: five days can finish later than six
Federal Court Rules 2011 r 1.61 excludes the event date. It also says that a non-business day within a period of five days or less is not counted. That short-period rule does not apply once the stated period reaches six days.
Take Friday 31 July 2026 as the event date and exclude it from both counts:
| Period | Method selected by rule 1.61 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days | Business days; the weekend is skipped | Friday 7 August 2026 |
| 6 days | Calendar days | Thursday 6 August 2026 |
The six-day period finishes first because the weekend is counted. Increasing the stated period from five to six changes the applicable method; it does not add one business day to the five-day result.
Open the five-business-day example in Court Rules mode. The Federal Court profile applies r 1.61's short-period rule itself; change the period to six days to see the method switch to calendar days.
The same rule excludes every day from 24 December to 14 January from a period fixed by the Rules or an order of the Court. That exclusion applies to both short and long periods.
Some recess rules are fixed and others are optional
The Federal Court, Victoria and the Northern Territory include their listed summer periods in the baseline calculator profile. Selecting the profile applies the exclusion automatically.
Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania restrict their exclusions to particular documents. The corresponding calculator controls are off by default. Turn one on only if the rule covers the document being filed, amended, delivered or served.
South Australia's Uniform Civil Rules illustrate the distinction. Rule 2.2 uses calendar days and contains no short-period threshold. Rule 2.2(5) stops time between 25 December and 1 January only for:
- filing a defence to a claim;
- filing a response or responding affidavit to an originating application; and
- filing a notice of appeal or review governed by Chapter 18.
The calculator therefore presents the South Australian Christmas period as an optional filing control, not as part of every South Australian calculation.
For example, start on Wednesday 24 December 2025 and count two days forward:
- ordinary South Australian calendar-day mode reaches Friday 26 December, then rolls to Monday 29 December because the Registry is not open on the terminal day;
- selecting the limited Christmas-period control leaves out 25 December to 1 January and reaches Monday 5 January 2026.
Use the second result only if the document falls within rule 2.2(5).
Registry location and public holidays
The High Court rule depends on whether the relevant Registry office is open. Its Practice Direction excludes weekends, Australian Public Service holidays, public holidays in the state or territory of the office, the days from Christmas Day to New Year's Day, and days when the Registry building is closed to the public.
That is why High Court mode asks for a Registry location. A Western Australian public holiday can affect the Perth Registry without changing the Sydney Registry's calendar.
State holidays can also affect state-court profiles, but the existence of a holiday does not by itself show that the day is excluded. The court rule may use calendar days, office-open days or a separate definition. Regional show days are not automatically included in every superior-court profile.
Match the rule to the calculator controls
In Court Rules mode:
- select Court Jurisdiction;
- select Court Level or Registry Location where the profile asks for it;
- enter the event date and the period fixed by the rule;
- turn on Use clear days only when the rule requires clear days; and
- turn on a vacation control only when the document falls within its stated scope.
The profile can apply its counting method, public holidays, recess dates and last-day rule. It cannot identify the legally effective event date or decide which procedural rule applies. Service, deemed service and filing cut-off times can change that date. For example, the High Court treats an act done after its filing cut-off as done on the next day the Registry is open.
Sources and verification
Sources checked on 4 August 2026:
- Federal Register of Legislation: Federal Court Rules 2011, rule 1.61 — Federal Court counting, business-day threshold and 24 December to 14 January exclusion.
- Federal Register of Legislation: High Court Rules 2004, Part 4 — High Court time calculation and last-day rule.
- High Court of Australia: Practice Direction No 1 of 2021 — Registry opening days and Christmas closure.
- NSW Legislation: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, rule 1.11 — NSW time calculation.
- Victorian Legislation: Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 — Victorian rules 3.01 and 3.04.
- Western Australian Legislation: Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 — Order 3 counting and limited vacation exclusion.
- Queensland Legislation: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 and Acts Interpretation Act 1954 — Queensland calendar-day and terminal-day rules.
- Courts Administration Authority of South Australia: Uniform Civil Rules 2020 — rule 2.2, including the limited Christmas exclusion.
- Tasmanian Legislation: Supreme Court Rules 2000 — rules 47, 48, 50 and 51.
- ACT Legislation Register: Court Procedures Rules 2006 and Legislation Act 2001 — ACT time calculation.
- Supreme Court of the Northern Territory: Supreme Court Rules — rules 3.01 and 3.04.
The source rule, any court order and current Registry information remain the basis for choosing the profile, event date and optional controls.
