Public holidays in Australia, 2026
Australia observes 6 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 255 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 26 Jan | Monday | Australia Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 2 Mar | Monday | Labour Day | AU-WA |
| Mon, 9 Mar | Monday | Adelaide Cup Day | AU-SA |
| Mon, 9 Mar | Monday | Canberra Day | AU-ACT |
| Mon, 9 Mar | Monday | Eight Hours Day | AU-TAS |
| Mon, 9 Mar | Monday | Labour Day | AU-VIC |
| Fri, 3 Apr | Friday | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Sat, 4 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Holy Saturday Easter Eve |
AU-ACT, AU-NSW, AU-NT, AU-QLD, AU-SA, AU-VIC |
| Sun, 5 Apr | Sunday Weekend | Easter Sunday | AU-ACT, AU-NSW, AU-NT, AU-QLD, AU-SA, AU-VIC, AU-WA |
| Mon, 6 Apr | Monday | Easter Monday | Nationwide |
| Sat, 25 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Anzac Day | AU-SA, AU-TAS, AU-VIC |
| Sat, 25 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Anzac Day | AU-NT, AU-QLD |
| Mon, 27 Apr | Monday | Anzac Day | AU-NSW, AU-ACT, AU-WA |
| Mon, 4 May | Monday | Labour Day | AU-QLD |
| Mon, 4 May | Monday | May Day | AU-NT |
| Mon, 1 Jun | Monday | Reconciliation Day | AU-ACT |
| Mon, 1 Jun | Monday | Western Australia Day | AU-WA |
| Mon, 8 Jun | Monday | King's Birthday | AU-ACT, AU-NSW, AU-NT, AU-SA, AU-TAS, AU-VIC |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | Picnic Day | AU-NT |
| Fri, 25 Sep | Friday | Friday before AFL Grand Final | AU-VIC |
| Mon, 28 Sep | Monday | King's Birthday | AU-WA |
| Mon, 5 Oct | Monday | King's Birthday | AU-QLD |
| Mon, 5 Oct | Monday | Labour Day | AU-ACT, AU-NSW, AU-SA |
| Tue, 3 Nov | Tuesday | Melbourne Cup | AU-VIC |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 28 Dec | Monday | St. Stephen's Day Boxing Day |
Nationwide |
21 further dates are observed in some regions only and are not counted in the working day totals above.
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 168 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 6 | 255 | 2,040 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in Australia. Only nationwide holidays are deducted; a date observed in one region alone still counts as a working day here, because a national figure that moved with regional calendars would describe nobody accurately.
The longest working month is July at 23 days; the shortest is April at 20. That spread of 3 days matters for anything billed or accrued monthly, which is why payroll and capacity plans that assume an even year drift by the end of it. The thinnest quarter is Q1, carrying 62 working days across January, February, March.
Compared with 2025, which held 254 working days, 2026 is 1 working day longer. Where a target is carried over from one year to the next unchanged, that difference is absorbed silently unless someone accounts for it.
Against the 204 countries covered here for 2026, Australia's 6 nationwide holidays put it below the median of 12, around the 7th percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 49.
The holidays produce 3 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 4 days, from 3 April 2026 to 6 April 2026, built around Good Friday and Easter Monday. A further 1 working day is stranded between a holiday and a weekend, where one day of leave buys a break of four days or more. The full breakdown is here.
4 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, St. Stephen's Day. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.
Notes on Australia
Australian public holidays are set by state and territory, not nationally, and the variation is
significant. Only a handful of dates are common to the whole country; the rest, including the
March labour day holidays, the June sovereign's birthday and the various local show days, differ
between jurisdictions.
Most jurisdictions provide a substitute weekday when a holiday falls on a weekend, so the working
year is reasonably stable.
Some regions add local days, including agricultural show days and race days, which are genuine
closures in the towns concerned and appear on no national list.