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Is 26 January a public holiday?

Yes Tuesday 26 January 2027 is a public holiday everywhere in Australia (Australia Day).

Public holidays are set state by state, so the same date can be a day off in one state and a normal Monday in the next. Here is what 26 January looks like in every published year.

  1. Sunday 26 January 2025 Public holiday

    • Australia Day
      VIC

    It lands on a Sunday. VIC adds an extra holiday on Mon 27 Jan; NSW, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT and ACT move the holiday to Mon 27 Jan. The substitute and additional days guide explains the difference.

  2. Monday 26 January 2026 Public holiday

    • Australia Day
      All states and territories

    A Monday, so it makes a three-day weekend everywhere. The long weekend planner shows what a few days of leave either side would add.

  3. Tuesday 26 January 2027 Public holiday

    • Australia Day
      All states and territories

    A Tuesday, so one day of leave on Mon 25 Jan turns it into a four-day break everywhere.

  4. Wednesday 26 January 2028 Public holiday

    • Australia Day
      All states and territories

    A Wednesday, which splits the week everywhere: two days of leave on either side makes a five-day break, or the whole week costs four.

The holidays that fall on 26 January

  • Australia Day

    Australia Day marks 26 January 1788, the day Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove and the colony of New South Wales was formally established. Colonial anniversaries were kept in Sydney from the early 1800s, but the states used different names and dates well into the twentieth century. It was only in 1935 that all states agreed on the name Australia Day, and only from 1994 that every state observed the public holiday on 26 January itself rather than on the nearest Monday. The date is also a day of mourning and protest for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who mark it as Invasion Day or Survival Day. That debate has been running for decades and shows no sign of settling; this site only records when the holiday falls, not whether it should.

    More about Australia Day

January in the public holiday calendar

January opens with New Year's Day everywhere and closes with Australia Day on the 26th, and in between there is nothing: the only January dates that are public holidays anywhere are the 1st, the 26th, and the Mondays those two move to when they land on a weekend. Tasmania's Devonport Cup, in the first week of the month, is the single regional exception. For most of the country January is the tail of the Christmas break rather than a month of its own holidays, and the Australia Day long weekend is the last one before Easter for NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

How public holidays are decided, and what you are owed

26 January FAQ

Is 26 January a public holiday in 2025?

Sunday 26 January 2025 is Australia Day in VIC. It is a normal working day everywhere else.

Is 26 January a public holiday in 2026?

Monday 26 January 2026 is a public holiday everywhere in Australia (Australia Day).

Is 26 January a public holiday in 2027?

Tuesday 26 January 2027 is a public holiday everywhere in Australia (Australia Day).

Is 26 January a public holiday in 2028?

Wednesday 26 January 2028 is a public holiday everywhere in Australia (Australia Day).

Looking for the whole year? Every 2027 public holiday by state