New South Wales Public Holidays 2026
Last reviewed: October 14, 2026 · Holiday data: August 26, 2026
The 2026 table for New South Wales lists 14 dates: 10 fall on a weekday and 4 on a weekend, and 2 of them are marked (observed) or (additional). That leaves 251 working days in 2026. Like the Australia calculator, this page counts Monday to Friday as working days; what changes is the holiday list.
How New South Wales differs from the national Australian holidays
New South Wales keeps every national Australian public holiday and adds Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, the Bank Holiday on the first Monday of August and Labour Day on the first Monday of October. Anzac Day stays on 25 April even at a weekend: the NSW Government says it 'is always recognised and observed on the 25 April every year', and its table also lists an Additional Day on Monday 27 April 2026 and Monday 26 April 2027. When New Year's Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Act provides an additional public holiday on the following Monday or Tuesday, and the weekend date stays a public holiday. A weekend Australia Day works the other way: there is no public holiday on that day, and the following Monday is the public holiday instead. On the Bank Holiday, retail bank branches and certain financial institutions must stay closed unless exempt; the NSW Government states it 'is not a declared public holiday', and this calculator counts it as a closure because it works on a bank-open-day basis. The King's Birthday stays on the national June date.
Added in New South Wales (2026)
- Easter Saturday (Saturday, April 4)
- Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 5)
- Anzac Day (additional) (Monday, April 27)
- Bank Holiday (Monday, August 3)
- Labour Day (Monday, October 5)
National dates not in New South Wales's table (2026)
New South Wales observes every national Australian public holiday on its national date and drops none.
New South Wales holiday calendar 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Thursday | New Year's Day |
| January 26 | Monday | Australia Day |
| April 3 | Friday | Good Friday |
| April 4 | Saturday (weekend) | Easter Saturday |
| April 5 | Sunday (weekend) | Easter Sunday |
| April 6 | Monday | Easter Monday |
| April 25 | Saturday (weekend) | ANZAC Day |
| April 27 | Monday | Anzac Day (additional) |
| June 8 | Monday | King's Birthday |
| August 3 | Monday | Bank Holiday |
| October 5 | Monday | Labour Day |
| December 25 | Friday | Christmas Day |
| December 26 | Saturday (weekend) | Boxing Day |
| December 28 | Monday | Boxing Day (additional) |
2026 summary
Total days
365
Weekend days
104
Holidays on weekdays
10
Working days
251
After subtracting 104 weekend days and 10 weekday-falling holidays, New South Wales has 251 working days in 2026. The count on this page uses New South Wales's calendar, not the national Australian set on its own.
New South Wales in 2026: how the calendar falls
Every figure below is computed from the 2026 dates in the table above and the Monday to Friday week, and each rule names the provision or the official list it is taken from. When a date changes, the sentences change with it.
New South Wales's public holiday rules, applied to 2026
New South Wales adds Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, the NSW Bank Holiday on the first Monday of August and Labour Day in October. In 2026 those days are Easter Saturday on Saturday, April 4, Easter Sunday on Sunday, April 5, Bank Holiday on Monday, August 3, and Labour Day on Monday, October 5.
25 April is a Saturday in 2026. The NSW Government says Anzac Day "is always recognised and observed on the 25 April every year", and its table lists Monday, April 27 as an Additional Day, so both dates are public holidays.
New South Wales adds a weekday for a weekend year-end holiday rather than replacing the weekend date. The rule is stated in the NSW Government's statement that 'there is to be an additional public holiday on the following Monday or Tuesday'. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday and stays a public holiday, with Monday, December 28 added.
The NSW Bank Holiday falls on Monday, August 3 in 2026. The NSW Government states that it 'is not a declared public holiday': retail bank branches and certain financial institutions are required to remain closed that day unless exempt, which is why this page counts it and a general workplace count would not.
How New South Wales's 2026 total is built
A year's working days are its weekdays minus the holidays that land on them, and both halves move. The weekday supply depends only on the year's length and the weekday it starts on; the holiday half depends on where each fixed date falls that year. 2026 runs 365 days, 52 whole weeks and one day over. It opens and closes on a Thursday, so the spare day is a weekday and the year holds 261 of them.
Ten holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays (four more land on a weekend and cost nothing), so New South Wales has 251 working days in 2026. 2027 lands on the same 251.
Weekend public holidays in 2026, and what New South Wales does with each
A public holiday on a Saturday or Sunday removes no working day; what changes the count is whether New South Wales's law adds a weekday for it or puts one in its place. In New South Wales in 2026:
- ANZAC Day falls on Saturday, April 25 and stays a public holiday; Monday, April 27 is added on top, so the weekend date takes no working day and the weekday does.
- Boxing Day falls on Saturday, December 26 and stays a public holiday; Monday, December 28 is added on top, so the weekend date takes no working day and the weekday does.
Only the weekday entries change the count; a public holiday on a Saturday or Sunday takes no working day from it.
What New South Wales's own days cost in 2026
A holiday on New South Wales's list takes a working day out of the count only when it lands on a weekday that is not also a holiday on the national Australian set, and a holiday on the national Australian set that is not on New South Wales's list puts one back only when it lands on a weekday. In 2026, New South Wales's additions on a weekday are Anzac Day (additional) on Monday, April 27, Bank Holiday on Monday, August 3, and Labour Day on Monday, October 5, while Easter Saturday on Saturday, April 4 and Easter Sunday on Sunday, April 5 fall on a weekend and change nothing.
The net effect is three fewer working days than the national Australian set: 251 against 254.
Where the fixed-date holidays land in 2026
A holiday tied to a calendar date moves one weekday later each year, so the week it breaks changes every year while its date stays put. Against 2025, each of these has moved one weekday on:
- New Year's Day is a Thursday in 2026, after a Wednesday in 2025, which leaves Friday, January 2 as a single working day before the weekend on this page's count.
- Australia Day is a Monday in 2026, after a Sunday in 2025, so on this page's count it turns the weekend before it into three days off.
- ANZAC Day is a Saturday in 2026, after a Friday in 2025, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.
- Christmas Day is a Friday in 2026, after a Thursday in 2025, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Friday, December 25 to Monday, December 28.
- Boxing Day is a Saturday in 2026, after a Friday in 2025, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.
Long weekends and four-day breaks in New South Wales, 2026
A weekday holiday next to a weekend turns two days off into three; two closures side by side, or one on each side of a weekend, make four or more. That is arithmetic on the dates, so the list moves every year even when the holidays do not. On this page's count, New South Wales has seven such breaks in 2026:
- Saturday, January 24 to Monday, January 26: three days, for Australia Day.
- Friday, April 3 to Monday, April 6: four days, for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
- Saturday, April 25 to Monday, April 27: three days, for Anzac Day (additional).
- Saturday, June 6 to Monday, June 8: three days, for King's Birthday.
- Saturday, August 1 to Monday, August 3: three days, for Bank Holiday.
- Saturday, October 3 to Monday, October 5: three days, for Labour Day.
- Friday, December 25 to Monday, December 28: four days, for Christmas Day and Boxing Day (additional).
Stranded working days in 2026
A holiday on a Tuesday or a Thursday leaves one working day stranded between it and the weekend. In 2026 New South Wales has one: Friday, January 2, next to New Year's Day. It is a full working day on this page's count even though a day off sits on either side, so a deadline that lands on it is not pushed anywhere.
New South Wales month by month, 2026
A month's working days are its weekdays less the holidays on them, so a month with no weekday holiday is set entirely by how its weekdays fall, and every holiday that lands midweek takes one day off the month it sits in.
| Month | Working days, this count | Working days, national set | Weekday holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20 | 20 | New Year's Day (January 1) and Australia Day (January 26) |
| February | 20 | 20 | none |
| March | 22 | 22 | none |
| April | 19 | 20 | Good Friday (April 3), Easter Monday (April 6), and Anzac Day (additional) (April 27) |
| May | 21 | 21 | none |
| June | 21 | 21 | King's Birthday (June 8) |
| July | 23 | 23 | none |
| August | 20 | 21 | Bank Holiday (August 3) |
| September | 22 | 22 | none |
| October | 21 | 22 | Labour Day (October 5) |
| November | 21 | 21 | none |
| December | 21 | 21 | Christmas Day (December 25) and Boxing Day (additional) (December 28) |
The third column counts the same months on the national Australian set, so the gap between the two columns is exactly what New South Wales's own calendar changes.
Where New South Wales counts longest without a break in 2026
The longest run of working days with no weekday holiday inside it depends on how far apart consecutive closures sit, so it moves whenever one fixed-date holiday changes weekday. In 2026 it runs from Tuesday, October 6 to Thursday, December 24 in the second half of the year: 58 working days, 11 full working weeks and three days.
The first working day of 2026 on this count is Friday, January 2, after New Year's Day. The last is Thursday, December 31, which is the latest date a count of working days can end on inside 2026.
Which calendar the 2026 count uses
The count uses New South Wales's public holidays plus its Bank Holiday on the first Monday of August, Monday, August 3 in 2026, because it counts the days banks are open. The NSW Government states that the Bank Holiday is not a declared public holiday, so a count of general workplace days in 2026 is one working day longer than this one.
Other years
Related links
Sources and verification
Official source: nsw.gov.au (opens in a new tab)
Cross-checked against this source on August 26, 2026.