Daylight saving time in Australia runs from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, and only in the south-east. In 2027 clocks go back on 4 April, when 3:00 a.m. becomes 2:00 a.m., and forward again on 3 October, when 2:00 a.m. becomes 3:00 a.m. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory change. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not. Each capital has a row in the table.

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Next clock change in Australia

Local time in each place. Computed from the IANA time zone database.

All clock changes 2026–2028: Sydney (New South Wales)

Which States Change, and When

The five jurisdictions that observe daylight saving agreed on common dates in 2008. Clocks go forward at 2:00 a.m. standard time on the first Sunday in October and back at 3:00 a.m. daylight time on the first Sunday in April. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart are then eleven hours ahead of Universal Time, and Adelaide ten and a half. Because Australia's seasons are the reverse of Europe's and North America's, the difference with those continents changes by two hours over the year, not one: London is eleven hours behind Sydney in January and nine hours behind in July. Lord Howe Island, off the New South Wales coast, is the world's only place that changes by half an hour.

Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory

The north and west have tried daylight saving and voted it down. Queensland ran a three-year trial and rejected it in a referendum in 1992, with the south-east corner in favour and the tropical north firmly against. Western Australia has held four referendums, in 1975, 1984, 1992 and 2009, and said no each time. The Northern Territory has not used it since the Second World War. The reason is latitude: in the tropics the length of the day changes little, and an extra hour of late-afternoon heat is unwelcome. The result is that in summer Australia has five time zones instead of three, and the twin towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, on either side of the Queensland border, are an hour apart.

Tasmania Went First

Australia used daylight saving nationally in both world wars and dropped it each time. The modern version began in Tasmania in 1967, during a drought that had emptied the hydroelectric reservoirs, as a way to save power. It worked well enough that New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory followed in 1971. Queensland abandoned it after one summer. For decades the states started and ended on different dates, and Tasmania began a month before the mainland; the 2000 Sydney Olympics were the occasion for New South Wales to start early as well. Only since April 2008 have the dates been the same everywhere.

Born in Australia? State and Year Decide the Hour

For a birth chart, an Australian summer birth has to be checked against the state and the year. A birth in Brisbane in January is on standard time in every year except the summers of 1971 to 1972 and 1989 to 1992. A birth in Perth is on standard time except during a handful of trial summers, the last from 2006 to 2009. A birth in Sydney or Melbourne in January has been on daylight time since 1971, but the start and end dates moved many times before 2008. Births during the world wars follow national wartime rules. A daylight-time hour left in by mistake moves the Ascendant about fifteen degrees. Our natal chart calculator needs the city for exactly this reason: in January Sydney and Brisbane are an hour apart.

Frequently asked

When does daylight saving end in 2027 in Australia?

On Sunday 4 April 2027 at 3:00 a.m., when clocks go back to 2:00 a.m. in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

When does daylight saving start in 2027 in Australia?

On Sunday 3 October 2027 at 2:00 a.m., when clocks go forward to 3:00 a.m.

Does Queensland have daylight saving?

No. Queensland rejected it in a referendum in 1992 and stays ten hours ahead of Universal Time all year, as do Western Australia and the Northern Territory on their own standard times.

Clock changes by country