Timezones and time changes in australia
Timezones and time changes in Australia
The entire east coast is again half an hour ahead. Here, the Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) with UTC +10 applies. This includes New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. Except for Queensland, which is located to the north, they also change to daylight saving time during summer. The Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) is UTC +11.Timezones and time changes in Australia
There are five different timezones in Australia. Countries with a large distance from west to east are often devided into two or more timezones to adjust daytimes to the position of the sun. Timezones are always computed relative to UTC, the "Universal Time Coordinated".
In Australia, there is a time difference of up to 2.5 hours between the east and the west. Like in most parts of the USA, there is a distinction in Australia drawn between standard time and daylight saving time (also called winter time and summer time), but this distinction is not nationwide.
The next clock change in Sydney will be on April 07th, 2024 at 02:30 to standard time. The clocks are then set back one hour. This means that it gets light earlier in the morning and darker earlier in the evening.
Current time in Sydney: December 2023Timezones by region
| Region | UTC | Standard time | Daylight saving time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Australia | +8 | Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) | discontinued 2009 |
| Eucla | +8.75 | Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST) | discontinued 2009 |
| South Australia | +9.5 | Australian Central Time (ACST) | Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT) |
| Broken Hill | +9.5 | Australian Central Time (ACST) | Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT) |
| Northern Territory | +9.5 | Australian Central Time (ACST) | discontinued 1944 |
| Queensland | +10 | Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) | discontinued 1992 |
| Victoria | +10 | Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) | Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) |
| New South Wales | +10 | Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) | Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) |
| Lord Howe Island | +10.5 | Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST) | Lord Howe Daylight Time (LHDT) |
Australia is a huge country with an extension of over 4300 km from western Denham to Lord Howe Island in the east. In between are a whole 46 degrees of longitude. Over the whole EU it is only 38 degrees of longitude, in the USA the distance is about the same as from San Francisco to Maine. Thus, there are clear reasons to adjust the times in Australia to the course of the sun. The Australian mainland is basically divided into 3 time zones:
Australian Western Standard Time (AWST), as the name suggests, is in the western region and 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +8). It covers about one third of the country, which is, however, largely uninhabited in the interior. There is no daylight saving time here.
Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) applies in the Northern Territory and South Australia. Compared to the rest of the world, the time jump is unusual: Instead of the usual full hour, it is one and a half hours ahead of the neighboring time in the west. That is, UTC +9.5. However, the two states do not always have the same time. While the Northern Territory stays with standard time all year round, South Australia changes to Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT, UTC +10.5) during the summer months, i.e. from early October to early April.
The entire east coast is again half an hour ahead. Here, the Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) with UTC +10 applies. This includes New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. Except for Queensland, which is located to the north, they also change to daylight saving time during summer. The Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) is UTC +11.
The actual country of Australia also includes Lord Howe Island, which lies just under 590 km off the coast. With only about 15 km² it is not very big, but at least it has its own time zone: the Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST). Again, there are deviations from the usual hourly time. The standard time on the island is UTC +10.5, which is only 30 minutes further than the mainland. And in summer, the clocks are changed to daylight saving time. Again, an exception: Daylight saving time on Lord Howe is not a whole hour ahead of winter time, but only half an hour.
Untill here, we have passed over a small curiosity. At the very bottom, in the southeast of Western Australia, there is the village of Eucla with only a few dozen inhabitants. Including the surrounding settlements, there are not even 200 people in an area about 100 km wide. And here the Central West Australian Standard Time (ACWST) is valid, which does not correspond to any of the previously mentioned times. This small time zone is UTC +8.75. So 45 minutes ahead of Western Australia and 45 minutes behind South Australia. Despite the far southern location, however, in contrast to the surrounding regions, daylight saving time was already abolished in 2009.
The time zones of Australia on the mapThe next clock changes in Sydney
| Date | Local time | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 01, 2023 | 1:30 am | +1 hour to daylight saving time |
| Apr 07, 2024 | 2:30 am | -1 hour to standard time |
| Oct 06, 2024 | 1:30 am | +1 hour to daylight saving time |
| Apr 06, 2025 | 2:30 am | -1 hour to standard time |
| Oct 05, 2025 | 1:30 am | +1 hour to daylight saving time |
| Apr 05, 2026 | 2:30 am | -1 hour to standard time |
| Oct 04, 2026 | 1:30 am | +1 hour to daylight saving time |
| Apr 04, 2027 | 2:30 am | -1 hour to standard time |
| Oct 03, 2027 | 1:30 am | +1 hour to daylight saving time |
Changes in Daylight Saving Times
In Western Australia Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1917 until 03/29/2009.
In Eucla Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1917 until 03/29/2009.
In South Australia Daylight Saving Time has been established on 01/01/1917.
In Broken Hill Daylight Saving Time has been established on 01/01/1917.
In Northern Territory Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1917 until 03/26/1944.
In Queensland Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1917 until 03/01/1992.
In Victoria Daylight Saving Time has been established on 01/01/1917.
In New South Wales Daylight Saving Time has been established on 01/01/1917.
On Lord Howe Island Daylight Saving Time has been established on 10/25/1981.
› All countries with Daylight Saving Time
Time zones in the dependent territories
| Country | UTC | Timezone |
|---|---|---|
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | 5 | French Southern And Antarctic Time |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | 6.5 | Cocos Islands Time |
| Christmas Island | 7 | Christmas Island Time |
| Norfolk Island | 11 | Norfolk Time |