{"id":102374,"date":"2024-05-02T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/?p=102374"},"modified":"2026-01-13T07:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:04:19","slug":"how-many-public-holidays-in-nsw-vic-nt-qld-act-wa-sa-tas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/how-many-public-holidays-in-nsw-vic-nt-qld-act-wa-sa-tas\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Public Holidays In NSW, QLD, ACT, WA, SA & TAS?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 11<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Keeping track of public holidays in Australia is complicated, considering we will observe nine public holidays nationally in 2026. Also, each of the six states and two territories has its own unique holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is problematic for employers, especially those who have teams working in different states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep your operations running smoothly, we’ve compiled all the details of public holidays that are observed by the entire nation, by state, and by region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Related: What Is The Minimum Wage In Australia?<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can Employees Be Forced To Work A Public Holiday?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before we outline every public holiday in Australia, it’s worth reviewing a legal case<\/a> from 2019 in which the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia decided that employers cannot demand that employees work on public holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers can only request<\/em> this.<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Did You Know?<\/h3><\/div>

BHP, a mining company, rostered 85 employees to work 12.5-hour shifts on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. However, the CFMEU (a trade union) alleged that the agency acting on behalf of BHP had breached the Fair Work Act 2009<\/em>.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Employment Standards (NES), employees are entitled to be absent from work on a public holiday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court recognised that the rostering didn’t constitute a request, since employees had no choice but to work \u2013 setting a new precedent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Important!<\/h3><\/div>

The onus is on employers to request employees to work on a public holiday. This applies to those working in casual, temporary, and part-time positions.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Expert Tip: Add Australian public holidays to your diary.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the click of a few buttons, using the free CalendarLabs calendar, you can download (most) Australian public holidays<\/a> to any iCal calendar-supported application, such as Outlook, Gmail, or Apple Calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gets updated automatically for the following year, to keep you abreast of any changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t contain some state-wide and regional holidays like Reconciliation Day and Adelaide Cup Day, but it captures the main ones, and you’ll get into the habit of tracking them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you work in a medium or large organisation, I recommend delegating the task of calendar-event creation to a colleague who can invite the organisation en masse to a diary event for every public holiday. <\/span><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

(Use the management summary at the end of this article for reference.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That way, everyone will get full visibility of what’s coming up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Many Public Holidays In The ACT?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the Australian Capital Territory, there are 13 public holidays, including 11 national holidays and two state-specific holidays:<\/p>\n\n\n\n