Queensland
No — today is not a public holiday in Queensland.
Tuesday 8 September 2026.
Queensland runs on its own calendar: Labour Day in May, the King’s Birthday in October, a part-day public holiday on Christmas Eve, and show days set council by council.
Monday
5October 2026
King's Birthday
in 27 days- Public holidays left in 2026
- 5
- Next long weekend
- 3–5 OctoberSaturday to Monday
- Shops open today?
- YesTrading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 (Qld)
- Applies in
- All of QLDPlus 1 regional day listed below
2026 at a glance
The whole year on one screen — every public holiday, and today. This is the view worth printing, and every date in it is in the table below in words.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Every QLD public holiday in 2026
The working behind the answer. Each row names the provision it comes from, and where a rule changes the date the rule is stated rather than hidden.
| Date | Holiday | Shops | Why this date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Jan | New Year's Day | Shops open | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
| Mon 26 Jan | Australia Day | Shops open | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
| Fri 3 Apr | Good Friday | Shops closed | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
| Sat 4 Apr | The day after Good Friday | Shops open | The Act's own name for it — Queensland does not call this day Easter Saturday. |
| Sun 5 Apr | Easter Sunday | Shops open | A public holiday in Queensland since 2017. |
| Mon 6 Apr | Easter Monday | Shops open | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
| Sat 25 Apr | Anzac Day | Shops closed | Falls on a Saturday and stays there. Queensland moves Anzac Day only when it falls on a Sunday. |
| Mon 4 May | Labour Day | Shops closed | The first Monday in May. Victoria takes Labour Day in March and NSW in October. |
| Wed 12 Aug | Royal Queensland Show (Ekka)the Brisbane local government area | Shops open | Brisbane only. The Wednesday of the RNA Show, which opens on the first Friday in August unless that Friday is before 5 August, in which case the second. |
| Mon 5 Oct | King's Birthday | Shops open | The first Monday in October. NSW and Victoria observe it in June. |
| Thu 24 Dec | Christmas Evefrom 6pm to midnight | Shops open | A PART-DAY public holiday from 6pm, and only for working out entitlements under the Industrial Relations Act 2016, the Fair Work Act and the portable long service leave Acts. Not a day off. |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | Shops closed | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day | Shops open | Falls on a Saturday, so 28 December is a public holiday as well. |
| Mon 28 Dec | Additional public holiday for Boxing Day | Shops open | Named in the Schedule to the Act |
And 2027
| Date | Holiday | Shops |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year's Day | Shops open |
| Tue 26 Jan | Australia Day | Shops open |
| Fri 26 Mar | Good Friday | Shops closed |
| Sat 27 Mar | The day after Good Friday | Shops open |
| Sun 28 Mar | Easter Sunday | Shops open |
| Mon 29 Mar | Easter Monday | Shops open |
| Mon 26 Apr | Anzac Day | Shops open |
| Mon 3 May | Labour Day | Shops closed |
| Wed 11 Aug | Royal Queensland Show (Ekka)the Brisbane local government area | Shops open |
| Mon 4 Oct | King's Birthday | Shops open |
| Fri 24 Dec | Christmas Evefrom 6pm to midnight | Shops open |
| Sat 25 Dec | Christmas Day | Shops closed |
| Sun 26 Dec | Boxing Day | Shops open |
| Mon 27 Dec | Additional public holiday for Christmas Day | Shops open |
| Tue 28 Dec | Additional public holiday for Boxing Day | Shops open |
Long weekends in QLD
Three days or more in a row without a working day in the middle. A holiday landing on a Saturday does not make one by itself, which is why these are measured from the gazetted dates rather than assumed. This models a standard Monday-to-Friday week, which is not everyone's. For the same question asked the other way round — who else is off that weekend — see long weekends month by month.
| Dates | Days | Because of |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 24 Jan – Mon 26 Jan | 3 | Australia Day |
| Fri 3 Apr – Mon 6 Apr | 4 | Good Friday, The day after Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday |
| Sat 2 May – Mon 4 May | 3 | Labour Day |
| Sat 3 Oct – Mon 5 Oct | 3 | King's Birthday |
| Fri 25 Dec – Mon 28 Dec | 4 | Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Additional public holiday for Boxing Day |
Which days do QLD shops have to close?
The trading list is not the holiday list
Queensland names four CLOSED DAYS and no more: Good Friday, Anzac Day, Labour Day and Christmas Day. On every other public holiday a non-exempt shop trades, on the hours its trading area allows — the Act's own table reads 'Sunday and public holidays, other than closed days'. So Boxing Day, Australia Day, Easter Monday and the King's Birthday are all ordinary trading days in Queensland.
In QLD the restricted days are Good Friday, Anzac Day (25 April), Labour Day (the first Monday in May) and Christmas Day — shorter than the holiday list above, and it does not line up with it. Whether a day is a public holiday and whether shops must shut are two separate questions with two separate Acts behind them.
LABOUR DAY IS A CLOSED TRADING DAY IN QUEENSLAND AND NOWHERE ELSE. New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT all have a Labour Day and none of them shuts shops for it. Note also that the Act names the DATE for Anzac Day — 'Anzac Day (25 April)' — rather than the public holiday, so in a year like 2027, when the Queensland public holiday moves to Monday 26 April, the closed trading day and the public holiday are not the same day.
The exemptions:
- EXEMPT SHOPS are outside the scheme entirely (s5): the descriptions in schedule 1AA, any INDEPENDENT RETAIL SHOP as defined in s6, and any shop in an area covered by a special event declaration.
- Hours differ by TRADING AREA, not just by day. The Act sets type 1, type 2 and type 3 areas with different opening and closing times — type 1 includes the Cairns CBD, the Gold Coast coastal tourist area and Pacific Fair — and the Industrial Relations Commission can declare more by trading area order (s21).
- Hardware shops and shops selling motor vehicles or caravans have their own hours again (ss 16D, 16E).
- Extended Christmas hours apply to the three Sundays before 18 December, to 18-23 December, and to Christmas Eve until 6pm (s16F).
- Banking and insurance offices must close on the bank holidays prescribed under the Holidays Act 1983 (s20) — a separate rule from the shop one.
Does your council get it?
Some public holidays apply to part of the state only
Section 4 is where Queensland's regional variation lives. On a written request from the local government, the Minister may appoint a holiday for a named district — and s4(4) draws the distinction almost nobody explains: a special holiday is only a BANK holiday in that district, EXCEPT where it is for an annual agricultural, horticultural or industrial show, when it is also a PUBLIC holiday. Brisbane's Royal Queensland Show is exempt from the request requirement under s4(5)(a). So show holidays are set council by council, and the answer to 'do I get the show day' depends on which local government area you are in, not which state.
So the honest answer to "do I get the show day" depends on which local government area you are in, not which state. The statewide table above is complete; the district-by-district list is the next thing being added here.
If the day affects your pay or your trading
Whenday answers what the date is. Two sibling sites answer what it costs, and they are written by the same author — see about Whenday for how they fit together.
- Working this day?Public-holiday penalty rates and how they stack with leave loading— Payjoey works from the Fair Work instruments.
- Trading this day?Your state's restricted-trading rules for small business— Bizroo covers the obligations that follow.
Frequently asked questions
Is today a public holiday in QLD?
The first line of this page answers that for today on Brisbane time, worked out from the same dates as the tables below. If your device's clock has moved past the day the page was built, the answer re-checks itself in your browser and says so beside the verified badge. A part-day holiday gets a “Partly” rather than a yes, and a day that applies in one region only is never counted as a holiday for the whole state.
How many public holidays are there in QLD in 2026?
Thirteen across the whole state — the first is New Year's Day on Thursday 1 January 2026 and the last is Additional public holiday for Boxing Day on Monday 28 December 2026, with one more that applies in part of the state only. The total moves from year to year because several days gain a substitute or an extra Monday when they land on a weekend, and the last column of the table says which rule produced each date.
When is the next public holiday in QLD?
The calendar leaf near the top of this page names it and counts the days from today on Brisbane time. Holidays are gazetted a year at a time, so the 2027 list already sits under the 2026 one — the answer keeps working through December instead of running out at New Year, and the 2027 dates are the ones to plan travel or rosters around.
Is Anzac Day a public holiday in QLD?
Yes. In 2026 the QLD public holiday for Anzac Day is Saturday 25 April 2026 — under Holidays Act 1983 (Qld). Whether a jurisdiction adds a day, swaps the day or leaves a weekend Anzac Day where it falls is the rule that differs most across the country, which is why the answer for QLD should never be taken from a national list.
Is 25 April 2027 a public holiday in Queensland?
No — the Monday is. Anzac Day 2027 falls on a Sunday, and the Schedule to the Holidays Act 1983 says the public holiday is observed on 25 April or, if that is a Sunday, on the following Monday. That "or" makes it a swap, so the holiday moves to Monday 26 April and the Sunday itself is an ordinary Sunday.
Three states, three answers, same weekend. New South Wales keeps the Sunday as Anzac Day and declares the Monday as an extra holiday on top, so it gets both. Victoria keeps the Sunday and adds nothing at all. Queensland swaps. If you run payroll across a border, that is three different results from one commemoration.
What is the Christmas Eve public holiday in Queensland?
An evening, not a day. Section 2(3) makes 24 December a public holiday from 6pm to midnight — the only part-day public holiday among the jurisdictions published here.
It is also narrower than it looks. Section 2(4) says it applies only for working out entitlements under the Industrial Relations Act 2016, the Fair Work Act and the two portable long service leave Acts. Nobody gets 24 December off because of it: what it does is make the evening shift a public-holiday shift, which is a pay question rather than a calendar one.
Does everyone in Queensland get the Ekka public holiday?
No. The Royal Queensland Show holiday applies in the Brisbane local government area, and nowhere else. If you live in Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay or the Gold Coast you do not get it — those are separate local government areas, and each has its own show day on its own date.
The mechanism is section 4: a local government asks the Minister in writing, and the Minister appoints the day for that district. Section 4(4) then draws a distinction almost nobody explains — a special holiday is only a bank holiday, except when it is for an annual agricultural, horticultural or industrial show, when it is a public holiday too. So a show day is the real thing, and your council decides whether and when you get one.
Why is Queensland’s King’s Birthday in October?
Because Queensland moved it. Since 2016 the Schedule has put the Birthday of the Sovereign on the first Monday in October and Labour Day on the first Monday in May; before that the pair sat the other way around.
The result catches people out at the border. The first Monday in October is a long weekend in both Queensland and New South Wales — but in Queensland it is the King’s Birthday and in New South Wales it is Labour Day, while the June Monday that is the King’s Birthday down south is an ordinary working day in Brisbane.
Verified
Checked against Holidays Act 1983 (Qld) and the dates published by Queensland Government (Office of Industrial Relations) on. Built for. If the date affects your pay, check your award or agreement.