Northern Territory Public Holidays 2026
Last reviewed: October 14, 2026 · Holiday data: September 11, 2026
The 2026 table for Northern Territory lists 13 dates: 9 fall on a weekday and 4 on a weekend, and 1 of them is marked (observed) or (additional). That leaves 252 working days in 2026. Like the Australia calculator, this page counts Monday to Friday as working days; what changes is the holiday list.
How Northern Territory differs from the national Australian holidays
To the national Australian public holidays the Northern Territory adds Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, May Day on the first Monday of May and Picnic Day on the first Monday of August. The King's Birthday stays on the national June date. The NT Government lists Anzac Day on Saturday 25 April 2026 with no extra day, and on Monday 26 April 2027, when 25 April is a Sunday. A weekend Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day keeps its own date and gains the following Monday or Tuesday as well: Christmas Day 2027 is Saturday 25 December and Monday 27 December. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are part-day holidays from 7 pm to midnight only, so they are not counted. The show days in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Borroloola are regional holidays that apply only to the regions celebrating them, so they are not counted here.
Added in Northern Territory (2026)
- Easter Saturday (Saturday, April 4)
- Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 5)
- May Day (Monday, May 4)
- Picnic Day (Monday, August 3)
National dates not in Northern Territory's table (2026)
Northern Territory observes every national Australian public holiday on its national date and drops none.
Northern Territory 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 |
| May 4 | Monday | May Day |
| June 8 | Monday | King's Birthday |
| August 3 | Monday | Picnic 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
9
Working days
252
After subtracting 104 weekend days and 9 weekday-falling holidays, Northern Territory has 252 working days in 2026. The count on this page uses Northern Territory's calendar, not the national Australian set on its own.
Northern Territory 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.
Northern Territory's public holiday rules, applied to 2026
The Northern Territory adds Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, May Day on the first Monday of May and Picnic Day on the first Monday of August, all fixed by Schedule 2. In 2026 those days are Easter Saturday on Saturday, April 4, Easter Sunday on Sunday, April 5, May Day on Monday, May 4, and Picnic Day on Monday, August 3.
25 April is a Saturday in 2026. The Public Holidays Act 1981 substitutes a Monday only for a Sunday Anzac Day, so a Saturday produces no extra day and the holiday costs no working day.
The Public Holidays Act 1981 adds a weekday for a weekend year-end holiday rather than replacing the weekend date. The rule is stated in Schedule 2's 'and' for New Year's Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday and stays a public holiday, with Monday, December 28 added.
Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday (Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 in 2026) are public holidays that fall on the weekend by definition, so they never change the count.
The Territory's show days are regional holidays, each kept only in its own show-day region, and the NT Government lists them for 2026 as Alice Springs Show Day on Friday, July 3, Tennant Creek Show Day on Friday, July 10, Katherine Show Day on Friday, July 17, Darwin Show Day on Friday, July 24, and Borroloola Show Day on Friday, August 14. A count confined to Darwin loses Friday, July 24 while this Territory-wide count does not. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are part-day holidays, from 7pm to midnight only, and are not counted either.
How Northern Territory'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.
Nine public holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays (four more land on a weekend and cost nothing), so Northern Territory has 252 working days in 2026. 2027 falls to 251.
Weekend public holidays in 2026, and what Northern Territory does with each
A public holiday on a Saturday or Sunday removes no working day; what changes the count is whether Northern Territory's law adds a weekday for it or puts one in its place. In Northern Territory in 2026:
- ANZAC Day falls on Saturday, April 25. Northern Territory keeps the date and grants no weekday for it, so it removes no working day from 2026.
- 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 Northern Territory's own days cost in 2026
A public holiday on Northern Territory's list takes a working day out of the count only when it lands on a weekday that is not also a public holiday on the national Australian set, and a public holiday on the national Australian set that is not on Northern Territory's list puts one back only when it lands on a weekday. In 2026, Northern Territory's additions on a weekday are May Day on Monday, May 4 and Picnic Day on Monday, August 3, 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 two fewer working days than the national Australian set: 252 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 Northern Territory, 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, Northern Territory has six 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, May 2 to Monday, May 4: three days, for May Day.
- Saturday, June 6 to Monday, June 8: three days, for King's Birthday.
- Saturday, August 1 to Monday, August 3: three days, for Picnic 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 Northern Territory 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.
Northern Territory 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 | 20 | 20 | Good Friday (April 3) and Easter Monday (April 6) |
| May | 20 | 21 | May Day (May 4) |
| June | 21 | 21 | King's Birthday (June 8) |
| July | 23 | 23 | none |
| August | 20 | 21 | Picnic Day (August 3) |
| September | 22 | 22 | none |
| October | 22 | 22 | none |
| 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 Northern Territory's own calendar changes.
Where Northern Territory 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, August 4 to Thursday, December 24 in the second half of the year: 103 working days, 20 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 the public holidays Northern Territory's own Act declares for the whole territory, including any weekday the Act adds or substitutes for a weekend holiday. The NT Government lists the show days as regional holidays that apply only to the regions celebrating them, and Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are part-day public holidays, from 7 pm to midnight only, so none of them is counted.
Statutes and schedules cited in this section
Each rule above comes from one of these sources or from the holiday data source below.
- Northern Territory Legislation: Public Holidays Act 1981 (opens in a new tab)
Other years
Related links
Sources and verification
Official source: nt.gov.au (opens in a new tab)
Cross-checked against this source on September 11, 2026.