Calculator Guide

How to use the Australian calculator

Follow the controls in the order they appear, then check the public holidays, settings and excluded dates. This page explains the tool; Use Cases show completed setups and Articles explain the source rules and annual holiday dates.

Open Calculator

A step-by-step guide to the controls, specialist modes and results in the Australian calculator.

Last reviewed: July 2026

Step 1

Choose the calculation you want to run

At-a-Glance

•Default Mode handles one deadline or the difference between two dates
•Court Rules applies a selected Australian court profile
•Sequential Periods joins two or more user-defined stages

Start with the job you need the calculator to do. The mode cards change the controls below them.

Default Mode

Use this for a standard working-day or calendar-day count, a supported industry preset, or a conveyancing count.

Court Rules

Use this when you have identified the Australian court, step, start date and period.

Sequential Periods

Use this when one known period finishes and another known period begins.

Check the source before setting up the calculator

The calculator cannot choose the start event, period, court, contract clause or SOPA rule for you. Find those details in the rule or contract, then enter them here.

Try it as you read

The three mode cards appear at the top of the form.

Open the calculator

Default Mode

Run a standard working-day or calendar-day count

At-a-Glance

•Choose Deadline when you know a start date and a period
•Choose Difference when you already know both dates
•Set both boundary checkboxes from the wording of your source

Select Default Mode, then work down the form in the order shown.

Australian calculator in Default Mode with a 15-working-day NSW calculation — Default Mode configured for a forward NSW working-day count. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Calculation Mode

Choose Deadline to calculate a date. Choose Difference to count between two dates.

Direction

Choose Forward to add the period or Backward to count back from an event date.

Calendar days

Leave this off for working days. Turn it on when the period is stated in calendar days, weeks or months.

Industry preset

Leave Standard selected unless you need the supported SOPA, Conveyancing or Employment/HR setup.

Start Date and Number of days

Enter the trigger date and the period supplied by your contract, rule or process.

Include start date

Turn this on only when the first date is day 1.

Include deadline date

Keep this on when the calculated date itself completes the period.

State or Territory

Choose the state or territory whose public holidays apply under the rule, contract or workplace policy. It may not be the employer's head office or your current location.

A three-day boundary check

Start on Monday and enter 3 calendar days. If Monday is excluded, the count is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. If Monday is included, it is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Use this small check when your answer is one day out.

Follow a completed setup

See a standard count that crosses a state holiday.

Open the NSW example

Related Resources

King's Birthday state comparison

The same 15-working-day count in NSW and Queensland

State-by-state holiday differences

Annual detail that belongs outside this tool guide

Public holidays

Select the state, territory and local holidays

At-a-Glance

•State or Territory selects the public holidays that apply
•Local Holiday Area appears where the calculator supports a more specific profile
•A coverage warning means you must check the current official table

Select the state or territory first. If more specific local holidays are available, the calculator then displays Local Holiday Area.

Queensland selected with the Local Holiday Area control visible — Queensland with Brisbane (Ekka) selected as the local holiday area. Select the image to open the full-size view.

State or Territory

Choose NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, NT or ACT. Federal appears where the calculation supports a federal profile.

Local Holiday Area

Choose a Queensland or Northern Territory show-day area, a Victorian annual alternative, or Tasmania North/South when those local holidays apply.

Warnings

Read every warning. If a local date is missing for the selected year, the result explains what is missing and whether the statewide holiday is still included.

Analysis

After calculating, check the state, territory or local area shown in the result. Do not rely only on the form selection.

Missing annual data is not a zero-day answer

A missing-year warning means the calculator does not yet have a verified local date for that year. Check the official district table before using the result.

For example, select Queensland, Gold Coast Show and a date in 2028. The warning says that no 2028 Gold Coast show date is stored, Brisbane's Ekka is not used, and no local replacement has been added. Check the official Queensland district table before treating that date as a working day.

See local holidays in use

Compare the public holidays used for two Queensland areas.

Open the show-day example

Related Resources

Queensland show-day example

Compare the Brisbane Ekka holiday with the Gold Coast show day

Regional show days and hidden holidays

How the annual district data is sourced and checked

Court deadlines

Set up Court Rules Mode

At-a-Glance

•Choose Notice to count backward or Filing to count forward
•Select the court jurisdiction before entering the period
•Turn on Use clear days or a vacation control only when the rule requires it

Select Court Rules only after identifying the court and rule. The form displays the counting method and any optional controls for your selection.

Australian Court Rules Mode configured for a Victorian filing — Court Rules Mode with Filing selected and Use clear days left off. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Notice or Filing

Choose Notice to count backward from an event. Choose Filing to count forward from service or another trigger.

Court Jurisdiction

Select the court profile named in your rule. This is separate from the ordinary holiday selector.

Court Level or Registry Location

This appears where a jurisdiction has different court levels or registry closure dates. Select the office or level required for the step you are timing.

Use clear days

Leave this off for the profile's ordinary boundary settings. Turn it on only when both the trigger date and calculated date must be excluded.

Optional court control

A vacation or document-specific exclusion appears only for profiles that support it. The tooltip explains its scope.

Number of days

Enter the period from the rule. The selected profile decides whether a short period changes the counting method.

Compare ordinary boundaries with clear days

Select South Australia and Notice. Enter Wednesday 14 January 2026 as the event date and 2 days. With Use clear days off, the service date is Monday 12 January. Turn it on and both boundary dates are excluded. The calculated date falls on Sunday 11 January, so the result moves back to Friday 9 January.

See the controls together

Follow a Victorian filing setup from trigger to result.

Open the court example

Related Resources

Victorian court filing example

A 28-day filing period crossing the Victorian vacation

Australian court deadline rules

Sources, thresholds and jurisdiction differences

Topic

Use the SOPA preset

Enter the SOPA period and state or territory, including the Victorian rule version where required.

Industry preset

Use the SOPA (Construction) preset

At-a-Glance

•Select SOPA (Construction) in Default Mode
•Enter the period stated in the relevant law or contract
•For Victoria, you must choose the current or earlier transitional rules

Stay in Default Mode. Select SOPA (Construction) under Industry preset, then select the jurisdiction and enter the period you have already found in the source.

Australian calculator with Victoria and the SOPA Construction preset selected — Victorian SOPA setup with the relevant rule version selected. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Industry preset

Select SOPA (Construction). The calculator locks the count to working days and loads the Christmas or New Year rules for the selected state or territory and rule version.

State or Territory

Select the state or territory that applies to the payment claim or adjudication step.

Victorian SOPA rules

When Victoria is selected, choose Current rules or Earlier transitional rules. The calculator will reject the calculation until you make this choice.

Number of working days

Enter the period stated in the law or contract. The preset does not decide which SOPA rule applies to your situation.

Analysis and Excluded Dates

Check the state or territory, shutdown label and every date left out by the SOPA rules.

See the preset in use

Follow a payment schedule count across the shutdown window.

Open the NSW SOPA example

Related Resources

NSW payment schedule example

A user-supplied ten-business-day period across Christmas

SOPA payment claim deadlines

State definitions, exclusions and the Victorian transition

Topic

Use the Conveyancing preset

Choose the scenario and decide whether the optional contract-date exclusion applies.

Industry preset

Set up the Conveyancing preset

At-a-Glance

•Choose the conveyancing scenario before entering the period
•The period remains user-supplied
•The 27–31 December control appears for Contract dates

Select Conveyancing under Industry preset. Then choose the scenario that matches the type of period you are entering.

Conveyancing Scenario

Choose Cooling-off or Contract dates (Settlement/Finance). This changes the available state profiles and defaults.

Exclude Dec 27–31 from contract-date counting

This appears for Contract dates. Turn it on only when the contract's business-day definition leaves out those dates.

State or Territory

Select the state or territory used by the contract's business-day definition.

Number of working days

Enter the contractual period. One calculated end date does not establish the next legal or contractual trigger.

Do not choose the December setting from the transaction name alone

The optional exclusion is a visible user choice. Check the contract definition before switching it on or off.

See a contract-date setup

Follow a 20-working-day period across Christmas.

Open the settlement example

Related Resources

Conveyancing settlement example

Compare the same contract period in NSW and SA

Topic

Build sequential periods

Set up and review each documented stage before running the combined calculation.

Sequential Periods

Build a sequential calculation

At-a-Glance

•Each period keeps its own length, boundaries, public holidays and shutdown
•The result of one period becomes the starting point for the next
•Review all periods before calculating

Select Sequential Periods. Enter the shared start date, then set up each period separately.

Period tabs

Give each stage a useful label and enter its number of working days.

Boundary dates

Set the start and deadline boundary for each stage from the rule or contract for that stage.

State or Territory and Shutdown Period

Select the state or territory and optional shutdown separately for each period. Do not assume every stage uses the first period's settings.

Review all periods

Open the overview and check every leg before selecting Calculate.

Sequential does not invent the next trigger

Chaining periods is arithmetic. Confirm that the result of one stage is legally or contractually the correct start point for the next.

Build your documented stages

Add only stages whose trigger and period you already know.

Open Sequential Periods

Related Resources

Australian use cases

Completed court, SOPA and conveyancing setups

Check the answer

Read and verify the result

At-a-Glance

•Start with the calculated date, then read the Analysis section
•Open Excluded Dates and check the timeline
•Treat every warning as an action item

Do not stop at the headline date. The result records the assumptions that produced it.

Australian calculator result showing analysis, breakdown and timeline — A Court Rules result with the assumptions and excluded dates visible. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Calculated date

Confirm the date and weekday first.

Analysis

Check the start event, direction, period, state or territory, counting method, shutdown and boundary settings.

Working / Weekend / Holidays / Shutdown

Check that these totals match the timeline. A part-day holiday may appear without removing the whole date.

Applied controls

In Court Rules and industry modes, confirm any optional rule control or rule-version choice recorded by the response.

Excluded Dates

Open the list and check each public holiday, local holiday, court closure and shutdown date.

Warnings

Deal with missing local dates, unsupported combinations and other warnings before using the result.

Export to PDF

Export only after checking the assumptions. The PDF records the calculation; it does not validate the source rule.

Check a complete calculation

Use a scenario to confirm how the result is presented.

Compare with a use case

Related Resources

Australian calculator examples

Compare your result with a completed scenario

Topic

Troubleshooting

Find the setting most likely to explain an unexpected result.

Final checks

Troubleshoot an unexpected result

At-a-Glance

•Check boundaries before changing the period
•Check the selected state, territory and local area before adding a holiday manually
•Act on warnings instead of treating them as general disclaimers

The answer is one day out

Recheck Include start date, Include deadline date and Use clear days. Then confirm whether the period is working days or calendar days.

A holiday is missing

Check State or Territory and Local Holiday Area. For a future local year, read the coverage warning and verify the official annual table.

Local Holiday Area is not shown

Select a state with supported local holidays. The control appears only where a more specific local choice is available.

The court method changed

Check the selected court profile and period. Some profiles switch from working days to calendar days above a short-period threshold.

The Victorian SOPA calculation is rejected

Select Current rules or Earlier transitional rules under Victorian SOPA rules. The calculator will not guess which version governs.

The result differs from the contract or rule

Compare the start event, period, boundaries, state or territory and optional controls one by one. The calculator applies your settings; it does not override the source.

What remains outside the calculator

Check the legal or contractual start event, the rule that applies, any right or validity question, and any event the calculator cannot know in advance.

Still cannot explain the result?

Send the exact settings, result and source you were applying.

Report a calculator issue

Related Resources

Australian use cases

Completed setups for comparison

Australian articles

Primary-source explanations and annual details