No. Easter Saturday is NOT a public holiday uniformly across Australia, and a payroll officer must not apply a single national answer.

In 2026, Easter Saturday falls on Saturday 4 April 2026 (the day between Good Friday, 3 April, and Easter Sunday, 5 April).

Why there is no single national answer
Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 115, the nationally guaranteed public holidays are a fixed list (New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the Queen's/King's Birthday as observed) PLUS any other day "declared or prescribed" as a public holiday under a law of a State or Territory. Easter Saturday is not on the fixed national list - its status depends entirely on whether the State or Territory where the employee works has declared it. The States and Territories have not done so uniformly.

Position by jurisdiction for Easter Saturday (FY2025-26 settings)
- Public holiday: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory. In these six jurisdictions, Saturday 4 April 2026 is a public holiday (often gazetted as "Easter Saturday" or "the day after Good Friday").
- NOT a public holiday: Western Australia and Tasmania. In WA, Easter Saturday has never been declared a public holiday (WA observes Good Friday and Easter Monday; it has separately added Easter Sunday, but not Easter Saturday). In Tasmania, Easter Saturday is not a public holiday either (Tasmania instead has Easter Tuesday as a restricted/partial holiday for some employees, mainly in the public service, but the Saturday itself is not a holiday).

What an individual employee's answer turns on
1. The State or Territory in which the employee is based/works - that jurisdiction's public holiday declaration is what feeds into s 115. An employee in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra or Darwin gets Easter Saturday as a public holiday; an employee in Perth or Hobart does not.
2. Whether the employee would ordinarily work that Saturday - public holiday entitlements (payment for absence under s 116, penalty rates under an award/agreement) only bite for hours the employee would otherwise have worked.
3. The applicable award or enterprise agreement - penalty rates, substitution arrangements, and any agreement-specific additional holidays sit on top of the statutory position.
4. Any regional or part-day declarations in that jurisdiction (not relevant to Easter Saturday itself, but part of the same state-by-state framework).

Bottom line for payroll: treat Easter Saturday 2026 (4 April) as a public holiday for employees working in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, ACT and NT, and as an ordinary Saturday (no public holiday) for employees working in WA and Tasmania. Payroll systems must resolve the holiday by the employee's work location, not nationally.