Easter Saturday (18 April 2026) is **not** a uniform national public holiday in Australia. Its status varies by state and territory, and even within some jurisdictions it can depend on the employee's award, enterprise agreement, or industry.

**The national picture**

Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in every Australian state and territory. Easter Saturday is not. It is a public holiday in some jurisdictions but not others, and in some places it applies only to certain industries or employees covered by specific instruments.

**Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction position**

- **New South Wales** - Easter Saturday is a public holiday under the *Public Holidays Act 2010* (NSW). It is a gazetted public holiday for all employees covered by that Act.
- **Victoria** - Easter Saturday is generally not a gazetted public holiday under the *Public Holidays Act 1993* (Vic). However, some awards and enterprise agreements - particularly in retail and hospitality - contain provisions that treat it as a public holiday for employees covered by those instruments. An employee's entitlement turns on their award or agreement, not a blanket state declaration.
- **Queensland** - Easter Saturday is not a gazetted public holiday under the *Holidays Act 1983* (Qld).
- **South Australia** - Easter Saturday is not a gazetted public holiday, but it has historically been treated as a partial public holiday for retail workers under specific trading hours legislation and award provisions. The practical effect for an individual employee depends on whether their award or agreement picks it up.
- **Western Australia** - Easter Saturday is not a public holiday under the *Public and Bank Holidays Act 1972* (WA).
- **Tasmania** - Easter Saturday is a public holiday under Tasmanian legislation.
- **Australian Capital Territory** - Easter Saturday is a public holiday under the *Holidays Act 1958* (ACT).
- **Northern Territory** - Easter Saturday is not a gazetted public holiday under the *Public Holidays Act 2013* (NT).

**What an employee's answer turns on**

1. **Which state or territory the employee works in** - this is the threshold question. An employee working in NSW, Tasmania, or the ACT is on a gazetted public holiday. An employee in Queensland, Western Australia, or the Northern Territory is not.

2. **Their award or enterprise agreement** - even in jurisdictions without a gazetted Easter Saturday public holiday, a modern award or enterprise agreement may create an entitlement. Retail, hospitality, and catering awards in particular have historically contained Easter Saturday provisions. An employee in Victoria, for example, may have a contractual or award-based public holiday entitlement where the state Act alone would not give one.

3. **The applicable base instrument** - under the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth), the National Employment Standards (NES) guarantee a public holiday entitlement for days that are public holidays "in the place where the employee is based." The NES does not itself create new public holidays; it incorporates state and territory declarations. So the NES answer is: if the state or territory has gazetted Easter Saturday as a public holiday, the NES entitlement follows; if not, the NES alone provides nothing extra.

**Bottom line for a payroll officer**

Do not apply a single national answer. For each employee, identify (a) the state or territory where they perform their work, (b) whether that jurisdiction gazetted Easter Saturday as a public holiday, and (c) whether their award or enterprise agreement independently creates a public holiday entitlement for that day. Employees in NSW, Tasmania, and the ACT will generally be entitled; employees in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory generally will not be (absent an instrument); Victoria and South Australia require instrument-level checking.