Year 2012 is a leap year. Public Holidays in Australia are based on state and territory you are living in, with the exception of National Public Holidays. For example: the Labour Day holiday varies considerably between various states and territories. Also the same festival or special occasion may vary from state to state. All states have their own fixed public holidays, and in some states public holidays are provided on a local basis, such as Melbourne cup day or Adelaide Cup day. Also, on certain public Holidays like Good Friday, the sale of Alcohol is prohibited in many states. Australia is famous as the land of long weekends. However it is an irony that Australians have fewer public holidays than workers in most other industrialized countries. Also if a standard public holiday falls on a weekend then a substitute public holiday will be observed on the first non-weekend day after the weekend, which is usually Monday. There are also international special days that are observed in Australia. These days may not be regarded as public holidays for all rather they fall into the ‘Restricted Holiday’ category which means that if you want, then you may take it as a holiday. However the number of days that any individual can take as restricted holiday is limited.

Australia Beach Holiday

Australia Beach Holiday

January 2012

  • New year’s day: Sunday, the 1st. This day has been regarded as the International year of Cooperatives
  • New Year’s Day: Monday, the 2nd
  • Epiphany: Friday, the 6th. This day marks the manifestation of God in human form as Jesus Christ.
  • Orthodox Christmas Day: Saturday, the 7th. The Coptic Church celebrates Christmas on this day.
  • Orthodox New Year: Saturday, the 14th
  • Chinese New Year: Monday, the 23rd. It is a day of traditional cultural activities, cultural food items, fireworks, art and craft etc.
  • Australia Day: Thursday, the 26th. It is Australia’s National Day celebrated in all states and territories of Australia, annually. On this day on 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip established the first English settlement at Port Jackson.

February

  • Prophet’s Birthday: Sunday, the 5th
  • Tu B’Shevat (Arbor Day): Wednesday, the 8th
  • Royal Hobart Regatta: Monday, the 13th
  • Valentine’s Day: Tuesday, the 14th
  • Carnival/ Shrove’s Tuesday: Tuesday, the 21st. It is the day before Lent. Generally, pancakes are eaten and distributed on this day.
  • Ash Wednesday: Wednesday, the 22nd. It marks the beginning of Lent, which is a 40 day period of fasting and a time of reflection.
Australia Holiday

Australia Holiday

March

  • Labour Day: Monday, the 5th
  • Purium: Thursday, the 8th. It is celebrated in the memory of the freedom of Jewish people in Persia from extermination by the courage of a young woman named Esther.
  • Adelaide Cup: Monday, the 12th
  • Eight Hours Day: Monday, the 12th
  • Canberra Day: Monday, the 12th
  • Labour Day: Monday, the 12th
  • St. Patrick’s Day: Saturday, the 17th
  • Vernal Equinox: Tuesday, the 20th


April

  • Palm Sunday: Sunday, the 1st
  • Maundy Thursday: Thursday, the 5th, It is the day when Jesus Christ had his last supper with his disciples.
  • Good Friday: Friday, the 6th
  • Easter Saturday: Saturday, the 7th
  • First Day of Passover: Saturday, the 7th. It is one of the most important Jewish festivals because it commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from Slavery.
  • Easter Day: Sunday, the 8th
  • Easter Monday: Monday, the 9th
  • Easter Tuesday: Tuesday, the 10th
  • Orthodox Good Friday: Friday, the 13th
  • Orthodox Holy Saturday: Saturday, the 14th
  • Last Day of Passover: Saturday, the 14th
  • Orthodox Easter: Sunday, the 15th
  • Orthodox Easter Monday: Monday, the 16th
  • Yom HaShoah: Wednesday, the 18th. This day marks the remembrance of 6 million Jewish people who were killed by Nazis between 1933 and 1945.
  • Anzac Day: Wednesday, the 25th. On this day those citizens are remembered who fell fighting in wars or who served the country. The word Anzac comes from Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
  • Yom HaAtzmaut: Thursday, the 26th

May

  • May Day: Monday, the 7th
  • Labour Day: Monday, the 7th
  • Lag B’Omer: Thursday, the 10th
  • Mother’s Day: Sunday, the 13th
  • Ascension Day: Thursday, the 17th
  • National Sorry Day: Saturday, the 26th
  • Shavuot: Sunday, the 27th
  • Pentecost: Sunday, the 27th
  • Whit Monday: Monday, the 28th

June

  • Trinity Sunday: Sunday, the 3rd
  • Western Australia Day/ Foundation Day: Monday, the 4th
  • Corpus Christi: Thursday, the 7th
  • The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: Monday, the 11th
  • Queen’s Birthday: Wednesday, the 13th.
  • Isra and Mi’raj: Sunday, the 17th
  • June Solstice: Wednesday, the 20th

July

  • Ramadan begins: Friday, the 20th
  • Tisha B’Av: Saturday, the 28th

August

  • New South Wales Bank Holiday: Monday, the 6th
  • Northern Teriitory Picnic Day: Monday, the 6th
  • Laylat- al- Qadar: Tuesday, the 14th
  • Assumption of Mary: Wednesday, the 15th
  • Royal national agricultural Show Day Queensland: Wednesday, the 15th
  • Eid- Al- Fitr: Sunday, the 19th

September

  • National Wattle Day: Saturday, the 1st
  • Father’s Day: Sunday, the 2nd
  • Australian National Flag Day: Monday, the 3rd
  • Rosh Hashana: Monday, the 17th
  • Citizenship Day: Monday, the 17th
  • Autumnal Equinox: Saturday, the 22nd
  • Yom Kippur: Wednesday, the 26th

October

  • Labour Day: Monday, the 1st
  • First Day of Sukkot: Monday, the 1st
  • Queen’s Birthday: Monday, the 1st
  • Feast of St. Francis of Assisi: Thursday, the 4th
  • Last Day of Sukkot: Sunday, the 7th. It commemorates the 40 year period when Jewish people were wandering in the desert. Sukkots are the huts in which the Jews used to live in the desert.
  • Shmini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah: Monday, the 8th
  • Family and Community Day: Monday, the 8th
  • United Nation’s Day: Wednesday, the 24th
  • Halloween: Wednesday, the 31st

November

  • All Saints’ Day: Thursday, the 1st
  • All Souls’ Day: Friday, the 2nd
  • Recreation Day: Monday, the 5th
  • Melbourne Cup Day: Tuesday, the 6th
  • Remembrance Day: Sunday, the 11th
  • Diwali: Tuesday, the 13th
  • Muharram/ Islamic New Year: Thursday, the 15th

December

  • First Sunday of Advent: Sunday, the 2nd
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception: Saturday, the 8th
  • First Day of Chanukah: Sunday, the 9th
  • Last Day of Chanukah: Sunday, the 16th
  • December Solstice: Friday, the 21st
  • Christmas Eve: Monday, the 24th
  • Christmas Day: Tuesday, the 25th
  • Boxing Day: Wednesday, the 26th. This day is noted for the start of the post Christmas sale season.
  • New Year’s Eve: Monday, the 31st

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