# Is Easter Saturday 2026 a public holiday for all employees across Australia?

**No — the answer is not uniform nationally.** Easter Saturday (Saturday 4 April 2026, the day between Good Friday, 3 April, and Easter Sunday, 5 April) is a public holiday in **most, but not all**, Australian states and territories. An employee's entitlement turns on **which state or territory they work in**, because public holidays are declared under state and territory law, not federally.

## Why the answer varies

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), s 115, "public holiday" includes a short list of nationally recognised days (e.g. Good Friday and Easter Monday) **plus any day declared or prescribed as a public holiday under a law of a state or territory** for the place where the employee works. Easter Saturday is *not* on the national list — it exists only where a state or territory declares it. Each jurisdiction has its own public holidays legislation, and they have made different choices about Easter Saturday.

## Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction position for FY2025-26

**Easter Saturday IS a public holiday in:**
- **New South Wales**
- **Victoria**
- **Queensland**
- **South Australia**
- **Australian Capital Territory**
- **Northern Territory** (declared as the Saturday before Easter Sunday)

**Easter Saturday is NOT a general public holiday in:**
- **Western Australia** — Easter Saturday is not gazetted as a public holiday. Employees there get Good Friday and Easter Monday, but Easter Saturday is an ordinary Saturday (subject to any more generous award, agreement or contract terms).
- **Tasmania** — Easter Saturday is not a public holiday. (Tasmania instead recognises Easter Tuesday as a public holiday, but only on a restricted basis — generally within the Tasmanian public service/certain awards — which further illustrates how Easter arrangements diverge by jurisdiction.)

## What the payroll officer should do

1. **Identify where each employee works** (the state/territory of their work location, not the employer's head office). That location's law determines whether 4 April 2026 is a public holiday for them.
2. **Check the relevant industrial instrument.** Even in WA and Tasmania, an award, enterprise agreement or contract may provide additional public holidays or penalty rates for Easter Saturday, so the statutory position is the floor, not necessarily the ceiling.
3. **Apply public holiday entitlements accordingly** — in the jurisdictions where it is a public holiday, NES entitlements (right to reasonably refuse work, payment for absence for employees who would ordinarily work that day, and any applicable penalty rates) attach to Easter Saturday; in WA and Tasmania they do not, absent a more generous instrument.

**Bottom line:** There is no single national answer. In 2026, Easter Saturday (4 April) is a public holiday in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, the ACT and the NT, but **not** in Western Australia or Tasmania. The correct treatment of any individual employee depends on the state or territory in which they work, plus any applicable award or agreement.