How many working days are in a year in Australia?

It varies by state, because each state has its own public holidays. A year has about 260 or 261 weekdays, and once the public holidays that land on weekdays are taken out, 2026 comes to 253 working days in NSW and 252 in Victoria, and 2027 comes to 253 in NSW and 252 in Victoria. Western Australia and the ACT come in lower at 251 for both years, and counting only the national holidays gives 255.

How many business days are in a year in Australia?

A business day is normally a weekday that isn't a public holiday, so the answer is the same as for working days: roughly 250 to 255 depending on your state and on which weekday 1 January falls. Use the Working days in a year tab to see the exact figure and a month-by-month breakdown for any state.

How many business days are in the year, and why does the number change?

The count moves because the calendar moves. Years with 53 Fridays or Mondays have an extra weekday, and holidays that fall on a Saturday or Sunday may or may not give you a day off in lieu. Easter also shifts between March and April, but Good Friday and Easter Monday are always weekdays, so they remove two working days every year.

How does a business days calculator work?

It counts every day between your two dates, removes Saturdays and Sundays, then removes the public holidays for your state that fall on the remaining weekdays. You can include or exclude the start and end dates, and add your own holidays, such as a company shutdown, to be removed as well.

What's the difference between a business day and a working day?

In everyday Australian use they mean the same thing: Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Contracts and awards sometimes define their own version, though. Some count Saturdays as working days, some exclude particular days (such as shutdown periods), and some count only days a bank or office is open, so check the definition in your document.

Is this a working days calculator for Australia only?

Yes. Public holidays are set for the eight Australian states and territories (or national holidays only), including substitute days, state-specific days like Labour Day and Melbourne Cup Day, and the Anzac Day rule for Western Australia. For another country the weekday maths still works if you pick "National holidays only" and add that country's holidays as custom dates.

Should I count the start date and end date?

It depends on the rule you're applying. "Within 10 business days" usually starts counting from the day after the trigger event, which means excluding the start date. A count of days "from 1 June to 14 June inclusive" includes both ends. Switch the start and end date checkboxes on or off to match, and see the day count change by one.

Can I use this as an ATO days calculator?

It can count the calendar days or business days between two dates, which is handy when you're working out how long you have for a lodgement or payment. But ATO due dates are generally set as fixed dates or in calendar days rather than business days, and some move when they fall on a weekend or public holiday. Check the ATO's own wording for the rule that applies to your lodgement or payment, and treat this tool as a counting aid, not a statement of the ATO's rules.

How do I add business days to a date to find a deadline?

Switch to the Add business days tab, enter the start date and the number of days. The start day isn't counted, so adding 1 business day to a Friday gives the following Monday, and holidays on the way are skipped. Enter a negative number to count backwards, for example to find the latest date to send something so it arrives on time.

Business Days Calculator

Working days between dates, with public holidays.

State or territory

Start date

End date

Options

Include the start dateInclude the end dateExclude public holidays

Custom holidays (optional)

Add your own days off (company shutdowns, local or part-day holidays) as YYYY-MM-DD, separated by commas.

Loading today's date…

Important: Holiday dates in this business days calculator are calculated from each state's and territory's usual rules. Some holidays are proclaimed each year (the Western Australian King's Birthday, for example) and dates can change, and part-day and local holidays aren't included. Confirm the dates with your state or territory government's official public holiday list, and check the actual rules in your contract, award, lease or legal notice before relying on a deadline.

How to Use the Business Days Calculator

This business days calculator for Australia has three modes. Count business days tells you how many working days fall between two dates. Add business days finds the date that is a set number of working days after (or before) a date, which is how you work out a deadline or settlement date. Working days in a year gives the total for any year and state, with a month-by-month table and the list of public holidays used. Pick your state or territory so the right public holidays are excluded, and add any extra days off as custom holidays.

Whether you call it a business day calculator or a working days calculator, the idea is the same: count the days that aren't weekends or public holidays.

What Counts as a Business Day

Business days = calendar days − weekend days − public holidays on weekdays − custom holidays
Working days in a year = weekdays (Monday to Friday) − public holidays that fall on a weekday
A holiday that lands on a Saturday or Sunday doesn't reduce the count again, which is why substitute holidays matter. Two holidays on the same day (for example Anzac Day on Easter Monday) are counted once.

Worked Example: 1 December 2026 to 31 January 2027 in NSW

Counting both the first and last day, the period spans 62 calendar days, about 8 weeks and 6 days. Of those, 18 are weekend days and 4 are NSW public holidays on weekdays: Christmas Day (Fri 25 Dec 2026), Boxing Day's additional day (Mon 28 Dec 2026, because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday), New Year's Day (Fri 1 Jan 2027) and Australia Day (Tue 26 Jan 2027). That leaves 62 − 18 − 4 = 40 business days.

Going the other way, adding 10 business days to Friday 18 December 2026 in NSW lands on Wednesday 6 January 2027. The calculation spans 19 calendar days, skipping 6 weekend days and 3 public holidays (Christmas Day, the 28 December additional day and New Year's Day).

Working Days in a Year in Australia: 2026 and 2027

Both 2026 and 2027 have 261 weekdays. Subtracting each state's weekday public holidays gives the working days below. In both years NSW has 253 working days and Victoria has 252, because Victoria has Melbourne Cup Day on top of the holidays NSW observes.

State or territory	2026 working days	2027 working days	Weekday holidays
New South Wales	253	253	8
Victoria	252	252	9
Queensland	253	253	8
Western Australia	251	251	10
South Australia	252	252	9
Tasmania	253	253	8
Australian Capital Territory	251	251	10
Northern Territory	252	252	9

Monday to Friday, excluding the public holidays this calculator includes. Totals will differ if your workplace has other days off, or if a proclaimed holiday is moved.

Public Holidays by State

Seven holidays apply nationally: New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (called Proclamation Day in South Australia). Each state then adds its own:

Labour Day: first Monday in October (NSW, ACT, SA), second Monday in March (VIC), first Monday in May (QLD), first Monday in March (WA). Tasmania has Eight Hours Day on the second Monday in March and the Northern Territory has May Day on the first Monday in May.
King's Birthday: second Monday in June in NSW, VIC, SA, TAS, ACT and NT; first Monday in October in Queensland; and in Western Australia a date proclaimed each year, usually the last Monday in September (marked "proclaimed — check" in the calculator).
State extras: Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday in November, VIC), Canberra Day (second Monday in March) and Reconciliation Day (first Monday on or after 27 May) in the ACT, Adelaide Cup Day (second Monday in March, SA), Western Australia Day (first Monday in June) and Picnic Day (first Monday in August, NT).

Substitute (Additional) Holidays

When a holiday falls on a weekend, the day off is often moved to a weekday, and that is the day that changes your count. This calculator applies these rules:

New Year's Day on a Saturday or Sunday: an additional holiday on the following Monday.
Australia Day on a Saturday or Sunday: the holiday moves to the following Monday.
Christmas Day on a Saturday or Sunday: an additional day on 27 December. Boxing Day on a Saturday or Sunday: an additional day on 28 December. In 2027, for example, Christmas Day is a Saturday, so Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December are holidays.
Anzac Day on a weekend: Western Australia gives the following Monday as a holiday. Other states don't use a substitute in this calculator, so check your state's rule. Anzac Day 2026 is a Saturday, so WA has Monday 27 April off and NSW doesn't.

Inclusive vs Exclusive Counting

"Between Monday and Friday" can mean five business days (both ends counted), four (start or end left out) or three (both left out). Neither answer is wrong, as it depends on the rule you're applying. By default the calculator counts both the start and end date; tick or untick the boxes to match your contract, notice or policy. When you add business days, the start day is never counted, so day 1 is the next business day.

Adding Business Days for Deadlines and Settlement

Many notice periods, delivery windows and property settlement terms are expressed as a number of business days, which is why adding business days to a date is as useful as counting them. Enter the trigger date and the number of days and the calculator skips weekends and your state's public holidays. A document may define business days differently (for example by a different state's holidays, or by the location of a bank), so use the Custom holidays box for any extra days and confirm the result against your own document.

Holidays This Calculator Doesn't Include

Only whole-day, state-wide public holidays are included. The following are not, so add them as custom holidays if they apply to you:

AFL Grand Final Friday in Victoria, whose date is set by the government each year.
The Royal Queensland Show ("Ekka") holiday, which applies in Brisbane only.
Tasmanian regional or partial holidays, such as the Royal Hobart Regatta, Recreation Day and Easter Tuesday for some workers.
Part-day holidays such as Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve evenings in some states.
Local show days and other regional holidays. Melbourne Cup Day is included for Victoria as it applies in metropolitan Melbourne; some regional areas observe a different local day instead.

Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday are holidays in several states too, but they always fall on a weekend so they never change a business-day count.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many working days are in a year in Australia?: It varies by state, because each state has its own public holidays. A year has about 260 or 261 weekdays, and once the public holidays that land on weekdays are taken out, 2026 comes to 253 working days in NSW and 252 in Victoria, and 2027 comes to 253 in NSW and 252 in Victoria. Western Australia and the ACT come in lower at 251 for both years, and counting only the national holidays gives 255.
How many business days are in a year in Australia?: A business day is normally a weekday that isn't a public holiday, so the answer is the same as for working days: roughly 250 to 255 depending on your state and on which weekday 1 January falls. Use the Working days in a year tab to see the exact figure and a month-by-month breakdown for any state.
How many business days are in the year, and why does the number change?: The count moves because the calendar moves. Years with 53 Fridays or Mondays have an extra weekday, and holidays that fall on a Saturday or Sunday may or may not give you a day off in lieu. Easter also shifts between March and April, but Good Friday and Easter Monday are always weekdays, so they remove two working days every year.
How does a business days calculator work?: It counts every day between your two dates, removes Saturdays and Sundays, then removes the public holidays for your state that fall on the remaining weekdays. You can include or exclude the start and end dates, and add your own holidays, such as a company shutdown, to be removed as well.
What's the difference between a business day and a working day?: In everyday Australian use they mean the same thing: Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Contracts and awards sometimes define their own version, though. Some count Saturdays as working days, some exclude particular days (such as shutdown periods), and some count only days a bank or office is open, so check the definition in your document.
Is this a working days calculator for Australia only?: Yes. Public holidays are set for the eight Australian states and territories (or national holidays only), including substitute days, state-specific days like Labour Day and Melbourne Cup Day, and the Anzac Day rule for Western Australia. For another country the weekday maths still works if you pick "National holidays only" and add that country's holidays as custom dates.
Should I count the start date and end date?: It depends on the rule you're applying. "Within 10 business days" usually starts counting from the day after the trigger event, which means excluding the start date. A count of days "from 1 June to 14 June inclusive" includes both ends. Switch the start and end date checkboxes on or off to match, and see the day count change by one.
Can I use this as an ATO days calculator?: It can count the calendar days or business days between two dates, which is handy when you're working out how long you have for a lodgement or payment. But ATO due dates are generally set as fixed dates or in calendar days rather than business days, and some move when they fall on a weekend or public holiday. Check the ATO's own wording for the rule that applies to your lodgement or payment, and treat this tool as a counting aid, not a statement of the ATO's rules.
How do I add business days to a date to find a deadline?: Switch to the Add business days tab, enter the start date and the number of days. The start day isn't counted, so adding 1 business day to a Friday gives the following Monday, and holidays on the way are skipped. Enter a negative number to count backwards, for example to find the latest date to send something so it arrives on time.

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