All of Australia
School holidays by state and territory
No state or territory is on school holidays right now.
Every state's terms side by side, with the public holidays, are on the year calendar. Term dates are set separately by each education department and they do not line up — the Territory breaks up for the middle of the year in June, Tasmania not until July. Pick a state or territory for the dates and the sector differences.
Choose a state or territory
- School holidays NSW
In Term 4, next break Fri 18 Dec.
New South Wales splits its school year in two: the far west starts a week later than everyone else, and the department’s published holiday dates are shorter than the break your child actually gets.
- School holidays VIC
In Term 4, next break Sat 19 Dec.
Victoria settles its term dates five years at a time by ministerial determination, and its teachers go back a day before its students.
- School holidays QLD
In Term 4, next break Sat 12 Dec.
Queensland counts a school holiday from the day after term ends to the day before it resumes — usually Saturday to Sunday, longer when a public holiday sits at either end — so its own figures are longer than most, and its Term 4 finishes a week before New South Wales and Victoria.
- School holidays WA
In Term 4, next break Fri 18 Dec.
Western Australia publishes its term dates in the Government Gazette, as it does its public holidays, and sets them six years ahead — further than any other state.
- School holidays SA
In Term 4, next break Sat 12 Dec.
South Australia runs a long Term 1 that stretches past Easter, and usually publishes its holiday periods Saturday to Sunday, so they read longer than the school week suggests.
- School holidays TAS
In Term 4, next break Sat 19 Dec.
Tasmania puts its professional learning days in term time, and they differ between the north and the south. Its colleges set their own finishing dates, and in 2026 its autumn break came a fortnight after the mainland’s.
- School holidays ACT
In Term 4, next break Sat 19 Dec.
Canberra is the only place in the country that gives new students a different first day from everyone else — and its colleges, not the calendar, decide when Year 12 finishes.
- School holidays NT
In Term 4, next break Fri 11 Dec.
The Territory finishes Term 2 in mid-June, earlier than anywhere else in the country, and gives every term a separate teacher and student start date.
School holidays 2027 in every state and territory
Each break from the day after the last day of school to the day before school goes back, for government schools, from each education department. Days off count the weekends.
Summer 2026–27
| State | Holidays | Days off |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Fri 18 Dec – Tue 2 Feb | 47 days |
| VIC | Sat 19 Dec – Wed 27 Jan | 40 days |
| QLD | Sat 12 Dec – Tue 26 Jan | 46 days |
| WA | Fri 18 Dec – Sun 31 Jan | 45 days |
| SA | Sat 12 Dec – Tue 26 Jan | 46 days |
| TAS | Sat 19 Dec – Wed 3 Feb | 47 days |
| ACT | Sat 19 Dec – Mon 1 Feb | 45 days |
| NT | Fri 11 Dec – Tue 26 Jan | 47 days |
Autumn 2027
| State | Holidays | Days off |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Sat 10 – Wed 28 Apr | 19 days |
| VIC | Fri 26 Mar – Sun 11 Apr | 17 days |
| QLD | Fri 26 Mar – Sun 11 Apr | 17 days |
| WA | Sat 10 – Mon 26 Apr | 17 days |
| SA | Sat 10 – Sun 25 Apr | 16 days |
| TAS | Sat 10 – Sun 25 Apr | 16 days |
| ACT | Sat 10 – Tue 27 Apr | 18 days |
| NT | Sat 3 – Mon 12 Apr | 10 days |
Winter 2027
| State | Holidays | Days off |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Sat 3 – Mon 19 Jul | 17 days |
| VIC | Sat 26 Jun – Sun 11 Jul | 16 days |
| QLD | Sat 26 Jun – Sun 11 Jul | 16 days |
| WA | Sat 3 – Sun 18 Jul | 16 days |
| SA | Sat 3 – Sun 18 Jul | 16 days |
| TAS | Sat 3 – Sun 18 Jul | 16 days |
| ACT | Sat 3 – Mon 19 Jul | 17 days |
| NT | Sat 19 Jun – Mon 12 Jul | 24 days |
Spring 2027
| State | Holidays | Days off |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Sat 25 Sep – Mon 11 Oct | 17 days |
| VIC | Sat 18 Sep – Sun 3 Oct | 16 days |
| QLD | Sat 18 Sep – Mon 4 Oct | 17 days |
| WA | Sat 25 Sep – Sun 10 Oct | 16 days |
| SA | Sat 25 Sep – Sun 10 Oct | 16 days |
| TAS | Sat 25 Sep – Sun 10 Oct | 16 days |
| ACT | Sat 25 Sep – Mon 11 Oct | 17 days |
| NT | Sat 18 Sep – Mon 4 Oct | 17 days |
Whose calendar is it?
Three sectors, three sets of dates
Every page here publishes the education department's dates, which cover government schools. Catholic systemic schools sit close to them without being bound by them, and independent schools set their own calendars outright — commonly starting and finishing a few days earlier.
That is not a footnote. It is why searching for your state's school holidays returns the department, an independent schools association and somebody's individual school all at once, with different dates. They are answering for different children.
Public holidays fall inside term time and are a separate list again — see public holidays by state, where every date is checked against that state's own law.
Frequently asked questions
Are school holidays the same in every state?
No. Each education department sets its own terms, and the breaks rarely line up. In 2027 the winter holidays begin as early as Saturday 19 June in the NT and as late as Saturday 3 July in NSW, WA, SA, TAS and the ACT. Catholic and independent schools can differ again from the department's dates.