 |
The Labour Day public holiday
is fixed by the various states and territories' governments, and so
varies considerably. |
|
The first Monday in October
in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia
|
|
The second Monday in March in
both Victoria and Tasmania |
|
The first Monday in March in
Western Australia |
|
The first Monday in May in
both Queensland and the Northern Territory |
|
Tasmania has Eight Hours Day
held in March. |
|
Proclamation Day is in
December in South Australia only. |
|
Canberra Day is held in March
in the ACT |
|
Melbourne Cup Day is held on
the first Tuesday of November - the day of the Melbourne Cup in the
Melbourne metropolitan area. |
|
Adelaide Cup Day is held on
the second Monday in March in South Australia (held in May before 2006)
|
|
Foundation Day in Western
Australia in June |
|
Picnic Day in the Northern
Territory in August, and also May Day |
|
Tasmania has Easter Tuesday
as a public holiday which at one stage Victoria acknowledged until 1993.
|
|
Royal Queensland Show Day in
Brisbane area in August |
Long Australia Holiday
Weekends
Where New Year's Day, Australia Day, Anzac Day, Christmas Day fall on a
Saturday or Sunday the standard is for another day to be gazetted as a
holiday in substitution. By common law, Boxing Day automatically occurs on
Monday 27 December if the 26 December is a Sunday, so a substitute holiday
is only gazetted if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday.
In Victoria, however, where Christmas falls on a Saturday or Sunday no
substitute holiday is given. In the event of New Year's Day falling on a
Sunday the following Monday is provided as the substitute public holiday.
Australia has been traditionally known as the "land of the long weekend",
both within Australia[[1] and by those outside Australia. However,
Australians have "fewer public holidays than workers in most other
industrialised countries."
Worker Entitlements for Australia Holidays
All permanent employees including shift and part-time workers are entitled
without loss of pay to public holidays. If they work on a public holiday,
these workers are entitled to be paid the appropriate penalty rates. For
those full-time workers who do not work the conventional hours of 9am-5pm
Monday to Friday, they are entitled to public holidays even though a
public holiday may fall on a non-working day. They receive either: an
alternative 'day off'; an additional one day of annual leave; or an
additional day's wages.
Under recently introduced industrial relations laws it is possible for an
employer and worker to agree not to pay penalty rates, this effectively
forfeits the public holiday.
