Public Holidays in Australia (2026): Dates for Every State and Territory, Pay Rates and Your Rights

Public holidays are where Australian payroll gets local. The national rules are simple — everyone has the right to a day off, and full-time and part-time staff are paid for it — but the dates differ between states and territories, some holidays are only part of a day, and the pay rate for working comes from your award. This guide lists the public holidays for 2026 and 2027 in every state and territory, then explains who gets paid, how penalty rates work, when you can refuse to work, and what happens when a holiday falls during leave. Worked examples are in Australian dollars.

Quick answer

Australia has eight national public holidays in the Fair Work Act — New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the King's Birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day — plus extra days declared by each state and territory. Employees can take the day off; full-time and part-time staff are paid their base rate for ordinary hours they'd have worked. Anyone who works it gets the award's public holiday rate, such as 225% under the retail award.

• In 2026, Christmas is a Friday and Boxing Day a Saturday — most places add Monday 28 December

• Your public holidays are those where you're based for work, not where you happen to be

• Employers can ask you to work only if the request is reasonable

• Casuals aren't paid for holidays they don't work

• A public holiday during annual or sick leave isn't deducted from the balance

The national public holidays

Section 115 of the Fair Work Act lists eight days that are public holidays everywhere in the national workplace relations system:

• 1 January — New Year's Day
• 26 January — Australia Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• 25 April — Anzac Day
• the King's Birthday, on the day it's celebrated in each state or territory
• 25 December — Christmas Day
• 26 December — Boxing Day

On top of these, any day or part-day that a state or territory law declares or prescribes as a public holiday for the whole state, or a region of it, also counts as a public holiday for NES purposes. That's how Labour Day, Easter Saturday and Sunday, Melbourne Cup Day, show days and the extra Monday holidays get in. And where state law substitutes another day for a holiday — such as moving Australia Day to Monday when 26 January falls on a weekend — the substitute day is the public holiday.

Each state and territory sets its own list under its own legislation: in New South Wales the Public Holidays Act 2010, in Queensland the Holidays Act 1983, in Western Australia the Public and Bank Holidays Act 1972, and equivalent Acts elsewhere. The Fair Work Act doesn't override those declarations, but it does govern the employment rights that attach to them.

Public holidays in 2026 by state and territory

These are the 2026 dates listed by the Fair Work Ombudsman, based on each government's published list. Regional holidays (such as local show days and Melbourne Cup substitutes in regional Victoria) aren't all shown — check your state's list.

A few 2026 quirks worth knowing. Anzac Day falls on a Saturday, and only the ACT, New South Wales and Western Australia add a Monday holiday; Queensland's law moves Anzac Day only when it falls on a Sunday. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so every jurisdiction except Tasmania keeps 26 December and adds Monday 28 December; Tasmania simply observes Boxing Day on the Monday. New South Wales lists a Bank Holiday on the first Monday in August, but its government notes this isn't a declared public holiday — it only affects banks.

Public holidays in 2027

The Fair Work Ombudsman has published the 2027 list. States can still declare changes, and Victoria's AFL Grand Final eve holiday depends on the fixture, so recheck closer to the date.

In 2027 both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend, so most places get two extra weekday holidays on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. Part-day holidays on Christmas Eve (Friday 24 December) and New Year's Eve (Friday 31 December) continue in the same states as 2026.

Who gets paid for a public holiday

Section 114 gives every employee the right to be absent on a public holiday in the place where they're based for work. Section 116 then says that if an employee is absent because of the holiday, the employer must pay them at their base rate of pay for the ordinary hours they would have worked that day.

That produces three practical rules, all confirmed by the Fair Work Ombudsman:

• Full-time employees are paid for the holiday as if they'd worked their ordinary hours, at base rate. Overtime they'd usually do isn't included.
• Part-time employees are paid only if the holiday falls on a day they ordinarily work. The FWO's example is a part-timer who works Monday to Wednesday — when Boxing Day falls on a Friday, he isn't paid.
• Casual employees aren't paid for a public holiday they don't work, because they have no ordinary hours that day.

An employer can't change a roster to avoid paying for a public holiday. Moving a part-timer's Monday shift to Tuesday in the week of a Monday holiday purely to dodge payment would breach the NES.

Location matters too. The FWO's example: an employee based in Melbourne but working in Sydney in November gets the Melbourne Cup public holiday, because the holidays that apply are those where you're based for work, not where you happen to be.

Public holiday entitlements by employment type

Situation	Full-time	Part-time	Casual
Holiday on a normal workday, not worked	Paid base rate	Paid base rate	Not paid
Holiday on a day not normally worked	—	Not paid	Not paid
Works the holiday	Award public holiday rate	Award public holiday rate	Award casual public holiday rate
Can refuse a request to work	If request unreasonable or refusal reasonable	Same	Same

Holiday on a normal workday, not worked

Full-time

Paid base rate

Part-time

Paid base rate

Casual

Not paid

Holiday on a day not normally worked

Full-time

—

Part-time

Not paid

Casual

Not paid

Works the holiday

Full-time

Award public holiday rate

Part-time

Award public holiday rate

Casual

Award casual public holiday rate

Can refuse a request to work

Full-time

If request unreasonable or refusal reasonable

Part-time

Same

Casual

Same

Working on a public holiday: penalty rates

The NES doesn't set a public holiday pay rate for people who work. That comes from the modern award, enterprise agreement or contract. Most awards pay a substantial penalty, and many use similar percentages, but you must check the one that applies.

Under the General Retail Industry Award (Table 12), all ordinary hours on a public holiday are paid at:

• 225% of the minimum hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees; and
• 250% of the minimum hourly rate for casuals, which includes the casual loading.

The retail award also lets an employer and a full-time or part-time employee agree to a different arrangement: the employee is paid the ordinary rate for the hours worked and gets the same amount of paid time added to annual leave or taken off within 28 days. And it allows an employer and employee to agree to substitute another day for a public holiday, with the penalty rate paid on only one of the two days.

Award and agreement-free employees get no statutory penalty for working a public holiday unless their contract provides one. Penalty rates aren't the same as the base rate paid for a day off, so payslips should show public holiday hours worked separately — see our payslip requirements guide.

For super, the ATO treats public holiday pay — whether the day is worked as ordinary hours or not worked — as ordinary time earnings, and shift penalties including public holiday penalties are ordinary time earnings too. Overtime on a public holiday isn't.

Can you refuse to work on a public holiday?

The employer can request an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable (s 114(2)). The employee can refuse if the request isn't reasonable or the refusal is reasonable (s 114(3)). If the request is reasonable and the refusal isn't, the employer can require the work.

Section 114(4) lists what must be taken into account:

• the nature of the workplace and its operational needs, and the type of work the employee does;
• the employee's personal circumstances, including family responsibilities;
• whether the employee could reasonably expect to be asked to work the holiday;
• whether the employee gets overtime, penalty rates or pay that reflects an expectation of holiday work;
• the type of employment — full-time, part-time, casual or shiftwork;
• how much notice the employer gave when asking; and
• how much notice the employee gave when refusing, plus any other relevant matter.

A nurse in a 24-hour hospital or a chef in a restaurant that trades on Australia Day will usually find a request reasonable, especially with penalty rates and good notice. An office worker asked the afternoon before Good Friday to come in for a non-urgent task usually won't. The key is to ask rather than roster by default, to ask early, and to listen to genuine reasons such as childcare.

How to roster staff for a public holiday fairly

1. 1

   Check which holidays apply

   Use the list for the state where each employee is based, including part-day and regional holidays.

2. 2

   Ask, don't assume

   Make a request to work, giving as much notice as possible, and explain why you need cover.

3. 3

   Consider refusals properly

   Weigh family responsibilities, employment type and notice under s 114(4) before insisting.

4. 4

   Pay the right rate

   Apply the award public holiday rate to hours worked, and base rate to staff who'd normally work but are off.

5. 5

   Record it

   Keep the roster, requests and responses, and show public holiday hours on payslips.

Public holidays during leave and notice periods

When a public holiday falls during paid leave, such as annual leave or sick leave, the employee is paid for the holiday as a public holiday, and it isn't deducted from their leave balance (ss 89 and 98). The FWO's example: an employee takes 10 days of annual leave that include Anzac Day on a Monday, so only 9 days come off her balance. Many payroll systems need a manual adjustment for this. Our annual leave and sick leave guides explain the leave side.

During unpaid leave — unpaid parental leave, unpaid carer's leave or unpaid community service leave — the employee isn't paid for public holidays. Long service leave depends on the state or territory Act. And if an employee is rostered on a public holiday that isn't a normal working day and calls in sick, they aren't paid for it.

Public holidays during a notice period count as part of the notice and don't extend it, according to the FWO. Our notice period guide covers termination rules.

Worked examples in A$

These examples use an adult minimum hourly rate of A$30.00 under the General Retail Industry Award. Your award's pay guide has the real rate, and the minimum wage guide has the national floor.

1. Full-timer has Australia Day off. Leila works Monday to Friday, 7.6 hours a day. Australia Day is Monday 26 January 2026. She doesn't work and is paid 7.6 × A$30.00 = A$228.00 at base rate.

2. Part-timer works Tuesday to Thursday. Ben's ordinary days are Tuesday to Thursday. Good Friday, Easter Monday and the King's Birthday all fall on days he doesn't work, so he isn't paid for them. He loses nothing — his ordinary pattern is unchanged.

3. Full-timer works Boxing Day. Leila works 8 hours on Saturday 26 December 2026 in a Sydney store. At 225% she's paid 8 × A$67.50 = A$540.00. Monday 28 December is also a public holiday; if she works that too she gets the public holiday rate again, and if she has it off she gets base pay for her ordinary hours.

4. Casual works Good Friday. Kai, a casual, works 6 hours on Good Friday. At 250% he's paid 6 × A$75.00 = A$450.00. If he hadn't been rostered, he'd get nothing for the day.

5. Annual leave across Christmas. Leila takes annual leave from Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027. Christmas Day, Monday 28 December and New Year's Day are public holidays in New South Wales, so they're paid as public holidays and only 7 days (53.2 hours) come off her annual leave balance.

Swapping a public holiday for another day

Some businesses would rather close on a different day — a manufacturer that shuts for a whole week over Easter, or a team that wants to work Australia Day and take another day off. The Fair Work Act allows this in two ways. A modern award or enterprise agreement can include a term letting the employer and employee agree to substitute another day or part-day (s 115(3)), and award and agreement-free employees can make the same agreement directly with their employer (s 115(4)). The substitute day is then treated as the public holiday for pay and leave purposes.

The agreement has to be genuine. An employer can't impose a swap or use substitution to avoid paying penalty rates, and under the retail award, if an employee ends up working both the public holiday and the substitute day, the public holiday rate is paid on only one of them — the employee chooses which. Put any swap in writing and keep it with the time and wages records.

Employees who want to mark cultural or religious days that aren't public holidays, such as Lunar New Year, Diwali or Eid, can ask for annual leave, use flexible working arrangements, or agree to swap a public holiday where their award allows it. The employer must not unreasonably refuse an annual leave request.

Public holiday payroll checklist

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• Each employee's work base recorded so the right state's holidays apply
• 2026 and 2027 dates, part-day and additional holidays loaded into payroll
• Requests to work made early, with reasons, and refusals considered fairly
• Award public holiday rates set up for full-time, part-time and casual staff
• Public holidays inside leave not deducted from balances
• Any substitute-day agreements in writing

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Common public holiday mistakes

• Using the wrong state's list. Employees are entitled to the holidays where they're based, including part-day holidays from 6 pm or 7 pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in some states.
• Missing the extra Monday. In 2026 most states add Monday 28 December; in 2027 most add Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
• Rostering staff on without asking. Work on a public holiday must be requested and the request must be reasonable.
• Deducting holidays from leave balances. A public holiday inside annual or sick leave is paid as a holiday, not as leave.
• Paying part-timers for days they don't work — or failing to pay them for days they do normally work.
• Changing rosters to dodge payment. It's a breach of the NES.
• Assuming 2.5 times applies everywhere. Rates come from awards and agreements, and award-free staff only get what their contract says.

Official links

• 2026 public holidaysFair Work Ombudsman — every state and territory
• 2027 public holidaysFWO — next year's dates
• Not working on public holidaysFWO — pay and refusing to work
• Pay and Conditions ToolFWO — award public holiday rates
• NSW public holidaysNSW Government
• Queensland public holidaysQueensland Government
• WA public holidaysGovernment of Western Australia

What to do next

Load the 2026 and 2027 public holidays for each state where you have staff into your payroll system now, including the part-day holidays and the extra Christmas Mondays. Check your award's public holiday rate and any substitution clause, and send roster requests for the Christmas–New Year period early. If an employee's leave covers a public holiday, make sure the day isn't taken out of their annual leave balance, and if you employ casuals, read our casual employees guide for their rates.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

How many public holidays are there in Australia in 2026?

It depends on the state or territory. The Fair Work Act names eight national public holidays, then each state and territory adds its own. In 2026 the Fair Work Ombudsman lists 13 state-wide holidays in New South Wales, while South Australia and the Northern Territory have 15 once part-day holidays on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are counted. Regional holidays such as show days come on top.

When is Christmas and Boxing Day public holiday in 2026?

Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026. Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December, so every state and territory except Tasmania adds an extra public holiday on Monday 28 December. Tasmania moves Boxing Day itself to Monday 28 December. South Australia calls 26 December Proclamation Day. Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory also have a part-day holiday on Christmas Eve evening.

Do I get paid for a public holiday if I don't work?

Full-time and part-time employees who don't work because of a public holiday are paid their base rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked that day. If the holiday falls on a day you don't normally work — for example, a part-timer who works Monday to Wednesday and a Friday holiday — there's no payment. Casuals aren't paid for public holidays they don't work.

Can my employer make me work on a public holiday?

Your employer can ask you to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable, and you can refuse if the request isn't reasonable or your refusal is reasonable. Factors include the business's needs, your family responsibilities, whether you'd get penalty rates, your type of employment and how much notice was given. If the request is reasonable and your refusal isn't, you can be required to work.

What is the public holiday pay rate in Australia?

There's no single rate — it comes from your award or agreement. Under the General Retail Industry Award, for example, full-time and part-time employees get 225% of the minimum hourly rate and casuals 250% (including casual loading). Many awards use similar rates, but check your own award. Award and agreement-free employees only get a penalty if their contract provides one.

Is Anzac Day a public holiday on Monday in 2026?

Anzac Day is Saturday 25 April 2026. The Fair Work Ombudsman lists an additional public holiday on Monday 27 April 2026 in the ACT, New South Wales and Western Australia. Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory don't add a Monday holiday when Anzac Day falls on a Saturday.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 12 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.2026 public holidays — Fair Work Ombudsman · accessed 12 October 2026
2. 2.2027 public holidays — Fair Work Ombudsman · accessed 12 October 2026
3. 3.Public holidays and Not working on public holidays — Fair Work Ombudsman · accessed 12 October 2026
4. 4.Fair Work Act 2009 — sections 114 to 116 (compilation C2026C00355 of 7 July 2026) — Federal Register of Legislation · accessed 12 October 2026
5. 5.General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004] — Fair Work Ombudsman / Fair Work Commission · accessed 12 October 2026
6. 6.Public holidays in NSW — NSW Government · accessed 12 October 2026
7. 7.Public holidays in Queensland — Queensland Government · accessed 12 October 2026
8. 8.Public holidays in Western Australia — Government of Western Australia · accessed 12 October 2026