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Every public holiday for all 8 states and territories, government school term dates, business days between any two dates, and a leave planner that finds the longest breaks for the fewest annual leave days.
Business days
252
Excluded: New Year's Day (Thu, 1 Jan), Australia Day (Mon, 26 Jan), Good Friday (Fri, 3 Apr), Easter Monday (Mon, 6 Apr), Additional public holiday for Anzac Day (Mon, 27 Apr), King's Birthday (Mon, 8 June), Labour Day (Mon, 5 Oct), Christmas Day (Fri, 25 Dec), Additional public holiday for Boxing Day (Mon, 28 Dec).
| Break | Days off | Leave days | Take leave on | Built around |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan – Sun, 4 Jan | 4 | 1 | Fri, 2 Jan | New Year's Day |
| Sat, 24 Jan – Tue, 27 Jan | 4 | 1 | Tue, 27 Jan | Australia Day |
| Fri, 3 Apr – Tue, 7 Apr | 5 | 1 | Tue, 7 Apr | Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday |
| Sat, 25 Apr – Tue, 28 Apr | 4 | 1 | Tue, 28 Apr | Anzac Day, Additional public holiday for Anzac Day |
| Sat, 6 June – Tue, 9 June | 4 | 1 | Tue, 9 June | King's Birthday |
| Sat, 3 Oct – Tue, 6 Oct | 4 | 1 | Tue, 6 Oct | Labour Day |
| Fri, 25 Dec – Tue, 29 Dec | 5 | 1 | Tue, 29 Dec | Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Additional public holiday for Boxing Day |
| Term | Starts | Ends | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Mon, 2 Feb | Thu, 2 Apr | Western division starts 9 February |
| Term 2 | Wed, 22 Apr | Fri, 3 July | |
| Term 3 | Tue, 21 July | Fri, 25 Sept | |
| Term 4 | Tue, 13 Oct | Thu, 17 Dec |
Working a public holiday usually attracts penalty rates under your award — commonly 225–250% of the base rate in retail and hospitality. If you're rostered on for any of the dates above, check what you should be paid with the Award Pay Calculator. Full-time and part-time employees who'd normally work that day are entitled to be absent on full pay.
Settlement periods, notice periods, invoice payment terms and bank transfers are usually quoted in business days, and public holidays differ by state — the same "10 business days" ends on different dates in Melbourne and Perth. This counter uses the official gazetted holidays for the state you pick, and leaves part-day holidays (like SA's 7 pm New Year's Eve holiday) and regional-only days (like Brisbane's Royal Queensland Show) in the working-day count.
School holidays are the gaps between the terms above — roughly two weeks after Terms 1–3 and the long summer break after Term 4. Term dates differ noticeably by state in 2026: Queensland, Victoria and South Australia go back in late January while NSW, WA, ACT and Tasmania start in February, and Tasmania's terms run latest into each break. If you're planning family travel, the leave planner above shows where public holidays fall next to term boundaries.
Holiday dates are the Fair Work Ombudsman's official 2026 and 2027 lists (Fair Work Act 2009 s 115); school terms come from each state's education authority. States occasionally gazette extra or changed holidays — check your state's site before locking in plans.
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.
Each state and territory gazettes its own public holidays — there is no single national list. National days like Anzac Day and Christmas are common to all, but each jurisdiction adds its own (Melbourne Cup, WA Day, Picnic Day) and handles weekend substitution differently.
When a holiday falls on a weekend, most states declare an additional weekday holiday (like Monday 28 December 2026 for Boxing Day), but the rules differ — in 2026 NSW, ACT and WA gained a Monday 27 April holiday for Anzac Day while the others didn't.
Employees get paid time off (or penalty rates if they work) on the holidays for the state where they work, not where their employer is based.
It depends on the state: between 11 (Tasmania, excluding regional days) and 13-15 including part-day and additional holidays. National holidays — New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day — apply everywhere; the rest are state-specific.
In NSW, the ACT and WA — yes, Monday 27 April 2026, because Anzac Day falls on a Saturday. Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory observe it on the Saturday only.
They vary by state. Most states have roughly two-week breaks in April, July and September/October, with the summer break from mid-December to late January or early February. Pick your state above for the exact government-school term dates from your education department.
Count the weekdays in the range, then remove any gazetted full-day public holidays for your state. This page's counter does it automatically for 2026 and 2027 using the official Fair Work holiday lists, including additional (substitute) holidays.
Yes, significantly. Beyond the five national days each state gazettes its own — for example Melbourne Cup Day in Victoria, Picnic Day in the NT and Western Australia Day in WA — and states substitute weekend holidays differently, so business-day counts and long weekends differ by state.
Award-covered employees typically get penalty rates — often 225% to 250% of the base rate. If you'd normally work that day and take it off, you're paid your ordinary rate. Check your specific award classification with the award pay calculator.
Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.
This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.
What can move this result
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.