What’s Open Across Australia During the 2023 Christmas Holidays?

The holidays are almost here, and while that is mostly a great thing, it also means you might be wondering exactly what is open on Christmas Day this year? To help with the planning, we thought we’d put together a list of what is open and, more importantly, what is not over the Christmas holidays and New Year’s break.

Here we go.

Supermarket holiday trading hours

Coles

Coles (including Coles Liquor stores) are usually closed on Christmas Day. We can assume this year’s holiday trading hours will be similar to last year’s, which were:

Coles Christmas trading hours: 

• Christmas Eve (December 24): All stores open.
• Christmas Day (December 25): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (December 26): All stores open in Northern Territory, NSW, ACT, NT Victoria, QLD and Tasmania. In South Australia, regional stores are open while metropolitan stores are closed. In WA most stores are open except Tom Price.
• New Year’s Eve (December 31): All stores open except Goondiwindi, Mt Isa and Ayr (QLD),
• New Year’s Day (January 1): All stores open with varying holiday trading hours.
• Whilst you’re here — it’s also worth stopping by our Coles coupon page to nab up savings on your Christmas groceries

Woolworths

Similar to Coles, here are Woollies’ trading hours across Christmas.

Woolworths Christmas trading hours:

• Christmas Eve (December 24): All stores open
• Christmas Day (December 25): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (December 26): All stores open in NSW, VIC, QLD, TAS, ACT. All WA stores open except Esperance, all regional SA stores open except Millicent and Metro stores
• New Year’s Eve (December 31): All stores open
• New Year’s Day (January 1): All stores open in NSW, VIC, QLD, TAS, ACT. All WA stores open except Esperance, all regional SA stores open except Millicent and Metro stores, NT all stores open except Gove.
• Find more details on your specific Woolies store’s hours here.
  For discounts on your Christmas groceries, make sure you stop by our Woolworths promo codes page.

ALDI

ALDI’s trading hours for 2023 are as follows:

ALDI Christmas trading hours:

• Christmas Eve (December 24): All stores open with reduced hours.
• Christmas Day (December 25): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (December 26): Stores open with varying trading hours
• New Year’s Eve (December 31): All stores open with reduced trading hours
• New Year’s Day (January 1): Stores open with reduced trading hours. Some SA stores closed.

Mail services over the holidays

Australia Post Offices are generally closed on all public holidays. However, they are delivering on weekends leading up to Christmas, and you can see a list of cut-off dates here.

What cinemas are open on Christmas Day?

Some cinemas are open over the holiday period. This varies greatly from venue to venue, however, and it’s best to check with your local cinema if you’re planning a Christmas session.

Event Cinemas

Events Cinemas are usually open nationally on Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Most venues are closed on Christmas Day, but you can usually find certain venues that are open for afternoon screenings. Check your local listing at Event Cinemas to be sure.

Hoyts Cinemas

The same goes for Hoyts cinemas, which has had certain venues open on Christmas Day in past years – but it’s worth double-checking before heading in. Contact Hoyts for specific details.

What bottle shops are open on Christmas Day?

BWS

We’re still awaiting full details of which liquor stores will be open on Christmas Day, but here are BWS’ trading hours from previous years.

• Christmas Eve (24 December): All stores open
• Christmas Day (25 December): All stores closed, apart from a few open in selected states.
• Boxing Day (26 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Eve (31 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Day (1 January): All stores open

Dan Murphys

• Christmas Eve, December 24 – all stores open
• Christmas Day, December 25 – most stores closed – apart from a few selected that are open in certain states.
• Boxing Day, December 26 – all stores open
• New Year’s Eve, December 31 – all stores open
• New Year’s Day, January 1 – all stores open

Shopping centre trading hours

Most shopping centres are closed on Christmas Day, with holiday hours in place over the rest of the holiday period. Check out Westfield’s hours here.

In terms of stores specifically: Retailers like Kmart, Big W and Target are all expected to be open for extended hours in the lead-up to the holidays, but will be closed on Christmas Day.

Kmart

Kmart’s Christmas trading hours this year are:

• Christmas Eve (24 December): All stores open with various closing times.
• Christmas Day (25 December): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (26 December): All stores open (excluding Esperance WA)
• New Year’s Eve (31 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Day (1 January): All stores open

Big W

Big W has provided its Christmas trading hours which are similar to Kmart’s:

• Christmas Eve (24 December): All stores open with various closing times.
• Christmas Day (25 December): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (26 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Eve (31 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Day (1 January): All stores open

Target

Expect similar trading hours from Target this year as well:

• Christmas Eve (24 December): All stores open with various closing times.
• Christmas Day (25 December): All stores closed.
• Boxing Day (26 December): All stores open with amended trading hours.
• New Year’s Eve (31 December): All stores open
• New Year’s Day (1 January): All stores open

Westfield

Westfield shopping centres around the country will have varying trading hours over the Christmas period – you can check them all out according to location, here.
In the lead-up to Christmas, hours range from 8:00 am to as late as 10:00 pm.

ACT:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield Belconnen and Woden will trade from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Fresh food from 7:00 am
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield Belconnen and Woden will be trading from 8:00 am –6:00 pm

NSW:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield Kotara, Tuggerah, Eastgardens, Hornsby, Hurstville, Liverpool, Mt Druitt, Parramatta, Penrith and Warringah Mall will trade from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Fresh food open from 7:00 am. Westfield Bondi Junction will trade from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. Fresh food open from 7:00 am. Westfield Burwood, Chatswood, Miranda, Sydney and Sydney Central Plaza will trade from 9:30am – 5:00 pm. Westfield Burwood, Chatswood, and Miranda fresh food open from 7:00 am
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield Kotara, Tuggerah, Eastgardens, Hornsby, Liverpool, Mt Druitt, Penrith and Warringah Mall will be trading from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. Westfield Bondi Junction, Burwood, Chatswood, Hurstville, Miranda, Parramatta, Sydney and Sydney Central Plaza will trade from 8:00 am – 7:00 pm

VIC:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield Geelong will trade from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Westfield Airport West, Plenty Valley, Knox, Doncaster, Fountain Gate and Southland will trade from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Fresh food open from 7:00 am
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield Geelong, Airport West and Plenty Valley will trade from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. Westfield Knox, Doncaster, Fountain Gate and Southland will trade from 8:00 am – 7:00 pm

QLD:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield North Lakes, Mt Gravatt, Carindale, Chermside, Coomera and Helensvale will trade from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Fresh food from 7:00 am
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield North Lakes, Mt Gravatt, Carindale, Chermside, Coomera and Helensvale will trade from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

SA:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield Marion, Tea Tree Plaza and West Lakes will trade from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield Marion, Tea Tree Plaza and West Lakes will trade from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

WA:

• Christmas Eve: Westfield Booragoon, Innaloo and Whitford City will trade from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. Westfield Carousel will trade from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
• Christmas Day: All centres closed
• Boxing Day: Westfield Booragoon, Carousel, Innaloo and Whitford City will trade from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm

Banking hours over the holidays:

Banks will be closed on Christmas Day, and payment will not be processed on this date. However, beyond that, there are varying hours for different branches and specific banks.

Here are some holiday guides for ANZ, CommBank, Westpac, and Reserve Bank of Australia as a start.

Are restaurants and cafes open over Christmas?

Independent restaurants and cafes will all have their own individual trading hours over Christmas, so check with the local staff or call your favourite restaurant to find out when they’re open during the break.

What about fast food over Christmas?

Fast food outlets like McDonald’s are open during Christmas. You’ll need to check your local McDonald’s store for their specific Christmas trading hours.

KFC

Most KFC stores will be closed on December 25, but 9Honey confirmed these stores are trading:

• Artarmon, Broadway, Campsie, Chatswood Interchange, George St, Lakemba, Lidcombe, Mascot, North Ryde, Punchbowl, Rockdale, St Ives, St Leonards, Sydney Airport, Hillcrest, Northfield, Prospect, Kilburn, Parafield, Seaford Rise, Everard Park, Preston, Roxburgh Park, Lakes Entrance, Crown Casino, Caboolture North, Caboolture South

Hungry Jacks

As for Hungry Jacks, only certain stores were trading in 2022, including:

• New South Wales: Gundagai, Jilliby, Sydney Airport Domestic, Sydney International Airport, West Gosford, Ballina, Lismore, Cabramatta, Hoxton Park, Brookvale, Burwood, Granville, Wentworthville, Leumeah, Pheasants Nest North, Pheasants Nest South, 505 George Street, Circular Quay, Moore Park, Pitt & Park Street, Saint Peters, Bankstown, Wiley Park, Glendenning and Minchinbury.
• Victoria: Ballarat, Beaconsfield, Chadstone, Hamilton, Heatherton, Horsham, Sale, Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine, Mernda, Moe, Moorabbin, Roxburgh Park, Stawell, Traralgon, Cranbourne North, Deer Park, Elizabeth Street, La Trobe, South Yarra and Spencer Street.
• Queensland: New Wing, Bilinga (Gold Coast Airport), Albany Creek, Alexandra Hills, Beak House, Herston and Browns Plains.
• South Australia/TAS/NT: Aberfoyle Park, Aldinga, Angle Park, Ceduna, Dry Creek, Gepps Cross OTR, Glen Osmond, Kadina, Motorsport, Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Naracoorte, Nuriootpa, Port Augusta East, Port Lincoln and Renmark.
• Western Australia: Perth International, Perth Virgin, Applecross, Beeliar, Claremont, Karawara, Palmyra, Myaree, South Lakes, Spearwood, Alkimos, Banksia Grove, Clarkson, Dayton, Jindalee, Joondalup, Wangara, Hillarys (Whitfords), Yanchep, Baldivis, Falcon, Karratha, Kwinana, Mandurah, Meadow Springs, Port Kennedy, Rockingham, Balga, Tuart Hill, Geraldton, Geraldton South, Girrawheen, Duncraig (Glengarry), Mirrabooka, Mt Lawley, Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Dalyellup, Eaton Fair, Australind, Bullcreek, Cannington Carousel, Innaloo, Kalgoorlie, Karrinyup, Livingston, Subiaco, William Street, Belmont, Forrestfield, High Wycombe, Lathlain Park, Midland, Mundaring, Redcliffe, Aveley, Beechboro, Beldon, Ellenbrook, Malaga, Midvale, Morley, Wanneroo.

For other fast food restaurants, you’ll want to check your local outlet’s individual trading hours.

Is public transport running as normal over the Christmas break?

New South Wales

You can find the summer transport summary for NSW buses, ferries, trains and the light rail here.

Victoria

Victorian Transport is running free rides on Christmas Day and around the holidays this year. find details here.

Queensland

Here are TransLink Queensland’s timetables for the Christmas holidays.

ACT

Canberra has released a special public holiday timetable for the Christmas period.

South Australia

Adelaide Metro has shared an update on its festive season services, with reduced services additionally occurring on December 28-30.

Tasmania

You can find the latest updates on Tassie’s Xmas public transport here.

Northern Territory

The NT usually runs a special event bus service for dates like New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day services will be altered. Please check with your local transport provider for more information.

Western Australia 

TransPerth services will be operating on reduced timetables this festive season, which you can read an update on here.

How about the bins?

Your local waste collection services may be impacted due to Christmas and other public holiday dates – many services will not run on Christmas Day. Please check if there are any changes for your suburb over the break.

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Okay, that’s everything we’ve got for you so far! Remember to plan your shopping and travel accordingly and have a safe and happy holiday season.

This article has been updated since its original publish date to reflect 2023 Christmas trading hours. 

Lead Image Credit: iStock