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Public holidays, NSW versus Victoria
Which days are a holiday on one side of the Murray and an ordinary working day on the other.
| Date | Holiday | NSW | VIC |
|---|
On the border this is not a trivia question. A tradesperson driving from Wodonga to Albury can cross from a public holiday into a normal Tuesday, and the penalty rate on the invoice depends on which one applies.
Dates are gazetted every year by each state, and they move. What follows is which holidays differ, not what date they fall on. For the current year's dates use the official pages: Service NSW publishes the New South Wales list and Business Victoria publishes the Victorian one. Anything else, including this page, is a summary.
The days that differ
| Holiday | New South Wales | Victoria |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Day | First Monday in October | Second Monday in March |
| Melbourne Cup Day | Not a public holiday | Public holiday, first Tuesday in November, metropolitan Melbourne and most of the state |
| AFL Grand Final Friday | Not a public holiday | Public holiday, the Friday before the Grand Final |
| Easter Sunday | Public holiday | Public holiday |
| Easter Tuesday | Not a general public holiday | Not a general public holiday, but observed in some Victorian awards and agreements |
| Bank Holiday | First Monday in August, banks and some finance sector only | Not observed |
The days that are the same
New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the King's Birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are public holidays in both states. Substitute days apply when one falls on a weekend, and the substitution rules are not identical between the two states either.
Melbourne Cup Day is the one that catches people out most often on this border. It is a public holiday in Victoria and an ordinary working day in New South Wales, so a Wodonga business may be closed while the identical business in Albury is trading normally, three kilometres away.
What it means for what you pay
Most trade quotes carry a public holiday loading, and most of them do not say which state's calendar they are using. Ask. If you are in Albury booking a Wodonga electrician for Melbourne Cup Day, you are having a normal Tuesday and they are not.
The same applies in reverse for Labour Day. Victoria takes it in March, New South Wales takes it in October, and a business that services both sides has two of them.
For business owners
Which calendar applies to your employees depends on where they are based and what their award or agreement says, not on where the customer is. That is a question for Fair Work or your accountant, and it is genuinely not obvious on this border. Getting it wrong is a wage compliance problem, not a rounding error.
Common questions
Is Melbourne Cup Day a public holiday in Albury?
No. Melbourne Cup Day is a Victorian public holiday. Albury is in New South Wales, so it is an ordinary working day there, while Wodonga across the river is not.
Why does this page not list the actual dates?
Because they are gazetted annually and a hardcoded date is wrong within a year. Stale dates on an evergreen page are worse than no dates. Service NSW and Business Victoria publish the current lists and those are the ones to use.
Does a NSW tradesperson have to charge a Victorian public holiday rate for work done in Victoria?
What they charge you is a commercial matter set by their own quote. What they must pay their staff is set by the relevant award or agreement and by where the employee is based. The two are not the same question, and a business that works both sides of the border should be able to explain how it handles it.
Are these the only differences?
These are the general statewide differences. Both states also declare local and regional holidays, and Victoria has a small number of local show day arrangements. Check the official list for the town you are in.
Does the AFL Grand Final Friday holiday apply every year?
It has been declared each year in Victoria since 2015, but it is declared annually rather than fixed in legislation, and the date moves with the fixture. Treat it as gazetted, not guaranteed.