Victoria Public Holidays 2026

Victoria's public holiday rules, applied to 2026

Victoria adds Labour Day on the second Monday of March (s 6(d)), Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday (s 6(f) and (fa)), the Friday before the AFL Grand Final (s 6(ia)) and Melbourne Cup Day on the first Tuesday of November (s 6(j)). In 2026 those days are Labour Day on Monday, March 9, Easter Saturday on Saturday, April 4, Easter Sunday on Sunday, April 5, Friday before the AFL Grand Final on Friday, September 25, and Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, November 3.

25 April is a Saturday in 2026. Under s 6(h), which lists 25 April as a bare date, no weekday is granted, so the holiday costs no working day this year.

The Public Holidays Act 1993 adds a weekday for a weekend year-end holiday rather than replacing the weekend date. The rule is stated in s 6(a) and (b) for New Year's Day and s 6(ka) and (m) for Christmas and Boxing Day, each a separate paragraph from the weekend date it follows. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday and stays a public holiday, with Monday, December 28 added.

The Friday before the AFL Grand Final is Friday, September 25 in 2026. It is a standing public holiday under s 6(ia), but its date follows the fixture, which is why later years leave it out until the fixture is published.

How Victoria'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 public holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays (four more land on a weekend and cost nothing), so Victoria has 251 working days in 2026. 2027 rises to 252.

Weekend public holidays in 2026, and what Victoria does with each

A public holiday on a Saturday or Sunday removes no working day; what changes the count is whether Victoria's law adds a weekday for it or puts one in its place. In Victoria in 2026:

• ANZAC Day falls on Saturday, April 25. Victoria 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 Victoria's own days cost in 2026

A public holiday on Victoria'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 Victoria's list puts one back only when it lands on a weekday. In 2026, Victoria's additions on a weekday are Labour Day on Monday, March 9, Friday before the AFL Grand Final on Friday, September 25, and Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, November 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 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 Victoria, 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, Victoria has six such breaks in 2026:

• Saturday, January 24 to Monday, January 26: three days, for Australia Day.
• Saturday, March 7 to Monday, March 9: three days, for Labour Day.
• Friday, April 3 to Monday, April 6: four days, for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
• Saturday, June 6 to Monday, June 8: three days, for King's Birthday.
• Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27: three days, for Friday before the AFL Grand Final.
• 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 Victoria has two: Friday, January 2, next to New Year's Day and Monday, November 2, next to Melbourne Cup Day. Each 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 one is not pushed anywhere.

Victoria 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.

The third column counts the same months on the national Australian set, so the gap between the two columns is exactly what Victoria's own calendar changes.

The longest unbroken stretch of 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, June 9 to Thursday, September 24, straddling the middle of the year: 78 working days, 15 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 Victoria's own Act declares for the whole state, including any weekday the Act adds or substitutes for a weekend holiday. The Friday before the AFL Grand Final is a standing public holiday, but its date follows the fixture, so it is counted only in years where the fixture is published.