When is Bank Holiday?

A holiday most people do not get

The NSW Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday in August and is one of the more misunderstood dates on the calendar. It comes from the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912, and it is a holiday for banks and certain financial institutions, not a general public holiday. Shops, offices, schools and government are open as usual. If you do not work in banking or under an award that references bank holidays, the day is an ordinary Monday.

Bank branches were traditionally closed for the day, though many now open and give staff a substitute day off. The holiday is listed on this site as restricted for that reason: it appears in the NSW table with a note, but it is left out of the long weekend planner and out of the count of public holidays for the state.

Other states

No other state has an equivalent general bank holiday. The term is used differently in the United Kingdom, where bank holidays are the ordinary public holidays, and that is a common source of confusion for people who search for Australian bank holidays expecting a national list. In Australia the public holidays are set by each state, and the NSW Bank Holiday is the only day of its kind.

What it means in practice

If you work for a bank or a financial institution covered by the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award, or an enterprise agreement that refers to bank holidays, the day is a public holiday for you with the usual entitlements. For everyone else it changes nothing. Bank branches in NSW may be closed or short-staffed, and some settlement and clearing processes that depend on NSW banks pause for the day, which is the main way the holiday touches people outside the industry.

This site keeps the day in the NSW tables, with a note, because people search for it and because leaving it out would make the table look wrong to a bank worker. It is simply not counted as a day off for anyone else.