# Anzac Day 2026 (Saturday 25 April): Is there a substitute Monday holiday?

**Short answer: No, there is no uniform national substitute holiday on Monday 27 April 2026. Whether an employee gets the extra Monday depends on the State or Territory in which they work (and, in some cases, their industrial instrument).**

## Why there is no single national answer

Public holidays in Australia are declared under **State and Territory law**, not federally. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 115 simply picks up whatever days are declared as public holidays in the State or Territory where the employee is based, and allows for substitution by agreement in limited circumstances. There is no Commonwealth-wide rule automatically substituting a Monday when Anzac Day falls on a weekend.

Anzac Day is also treated differently from most other public holidays. Because of its commemorative significance, most jurisdictions deliberately **do not** substitute or add a day when it falls on a weekend.

## Position by jurisdiction for Saturday 25 April 2026

- **Western Australia:** WA legislation provides that when Anzac Day falls on a weekend, the **following Monday (27 April 2026) is an additional public holiday**. So WA employees get both Saturday 25 April and Monday 27 April as public holidays. (This mirrors what happened in 2020, when Anzac Day last fell on a Saturday.)
- **NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, ACT and NT:** Anzac Day is observed **only on Saturday 25 April 2026**. There is **no additional or substitute Monday holiday** in these jurisdictions when Anzac Day falls on a Saturday. (Note: several of these jurisdictions do provide a substitute/additional Monday when Anzac Day falls on a *Sunday* — e.g. as occurred in 2021 in Qld, SA, WA, ACT and NT — but that rule does not apply to a Saturday Anzac Day.)

## Practical consequences for payroll

1. **Saturday 25 April 2026 remains a public holiday everywhere.** Employees who are rostered to work that Saturday are entitled to public holiday treatment (penalty rates under their award/agreement, the right to reasonably refuse work under NES s 114, etc.). Employees who don't ordinarily work Saturdays get no extra paid day off — the holiday effectively "falls on their day off," and outside WA there is no compensating Monday.
2. **Monday 27 April 2026 is a public holiday only in WA** (absent any further government declaration). Employees based in WA who normally work Mondays are entitled to the paid day off / penalty rates for that day.
3. **What an individual employee's entitlement turns on:**
   - the **State or Territory where they are based/work** (the decisive factor);
   - any **award, enterprise agreement or contract** term providing additional holidays or substitution arrangements;
   - any **agreed substitution** under Fair Work Act s 115(2)–(3) or an award/agreement substitution clause; and
   - whether any government makes a **one-off additional declaration** (governments occasionally proclaim extra days, so payroll should check current State/Territory gazettals closer to the date).

**Bottom line for the payroll officer:** Do not apply a blanket Monday 27 April 2026 public holiday nationally. Apply it for WA-based employees; for employees everywhere else, only Saturday 25 April 2026 is the public holiday, subject to any more generous award, agreement or contractual provision.