Pair Your Annual Leave With These Public Holidays for Maximum Time off at Easter

A new year has arrived and with international travel well and truly back on, it’s time to book in your annual leave and lock in those holidays. If you’re looking for ways to maximise your annual leave dates in 2023, the best way to do that is to pair them with already-existing public holidays. There are quite a few scattered around the different states and territories in Australia, so for your planning purposes, we’ve broken down the best times to take holidays below.

Australian holiday dates for 2023

March public holidays 2023

• Monday, March 6 (Labour Day, WA)
• Monday, March 13 (Canberra Day, ACT)
• Monday, March 13 (Eight Hours Day, TAS)
• Monday, March 13 (Labour Day, VIC)
• Monday, March 13 (Adelaide Cup Day, SA)

For those in WA, ACT, TAS, SA or VIC, you’ll get a Monday public holiday for various reasons in March. Take the Friday off as well and get an extra long weekend.

Easter public holidays 2023

• Friday, April 7 (Good Friday)
• Sunday, April 9 (Easter Sunday)
• Monday, April 10 (Easter Monday)
• Tuesday, April 25 (ANZAC Day)

Easter is the next big chunk of time off that the whole country gets to enjoy. Taking four days off either prior to Good Friday (April 3-6) or after Easter Monday (April 11-14) will get you a 10-day break. It’s the perfect time to take a longer getaway either locally or even travel internationally.

Alternatively, if you want a break a bit later in the month, ANZAC day falls on a Tuesday in 2023, meaning you can get a four-day break by taking Monday the 24th as leave.

May public holidays 2023

• Monday, May 1 (May Day, NT)
• Monday, May 1 (Labour Day, QLD)

Queensland and the Northern Territory keep the long weekends rolling in May. Take an extra day off on Friday or Tuesday, or even the following four days if you’re in desperate need of a break by then.

June public holidays 2023

• Monday, June 5 (Western Australia Day, WA)
• Monday, June 12 (King’s Birthday, ACT, SA, TAS, VIC)

A similar situation in June as in May, if you want to take full advantage of the King’s Birthday weekend, you can do so.

August public holidays 2023

• Monday, August 7 (Picnic Day, NT)
• Wednesday, August 16 (Royal Queensland Show Day, Brisbane)

The moral of the story here is that we all need to move to the Northern Territory or Queensland because they seem to have way more public holidays than the rest of us.

September public holidays 2023

• Friday, September 29 (AFL Grand Final Holiday, VIC)
• Monday, September 25 (King’s Birthday, WA)

September is a weird one, but some areas in Western Australia will get a long weekend for the Queen’s (now King’s) birthday.

Victoria also gets the AFL grand final holiday in September, which takes place on the Friday before the big game, as dictated by the AFL schedule.

October public holidays 2023

• Monday, October 2 (Labour Day, ACT, NSW, SA)
• Monday, October 2 (King’s Birthday, QLD)

It’s a long stretch between June and Christmas, so folks needing a break should take advantage of the October public holiday. Queensland takes it as the King’s birthday, while ACT, NSW and SA celebrate Labour Day.

November public holidays 2023

• Tuesday, November 7 (Melbourne Cup, VIC)

Despite most of Australia ignoring horse racing, Victoria still takes the Melbourne Cup as a public holiday. Seeing as this always falls on a Tuesday, it makes sense to take the Monday off and get a four-day weekend out of it.

December public holidays 2023

• Monday, December 25 (Chrismas Day)
• Tuesday, December 26 (Boxing Day)
• Monday, January 1 (New Year’s Day 2024)

Christmas 2023 may seem like a very far-off adventure, but if you’re planning ahead to see family or friends, you’ll want to get planning. Christmas and Boxing Day take place on a Monday and Tuesday in 2023, meaning if you take Wednesday through Friday as annual leave, you can get a hefty 11-day break.