Labour Day 2027 in every state and territory

Labour Day is not one national date. Each state and territory sets its own, so in 2027 it falls on four different Mondays: 1 March in Western Australia, 8 March in Victoria and Tasmania (where it is called Eight Hours Day), 3 May in Queensland and the Northern Territory (where it is called May Day), and 4 October in New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT.

Next Labour Day: Monday 1 March 2027 in Western Australia. Every 2026 Labour Day has passed. The last was on Monday 5 October 2026 in NSW, SA and the ACT.

Labour Day dates by state, 2026 and 2027

Listed in date order for 2027. Every date is a Monday, so every Labour Day gives a long weekend.

StateHoliday name20262027
Western Australia
WA public holidays
Labour DayMon 2 March
Passed
Mon 1 March
Victoria
VIC public holidays
Labour DayMon 9 March
Passed
Mon 8 March
Tasmania
TAS public holidays
Eight Hours DayMon 9 March
Passed
Mon 8 March
Queensland
QLD public holidays
Labour DayMon 4 May
Passed
Mon 3 May
Northern Territory
NT public holidays
May DayMon 4 May
Passed
Mon 3 May
New South Wales
NSW public holidays
Labour DayMon 5 October
Passed
Mon 4 October
South Australia
SA public holidays
Labour DayMon 5 October
Passed
Mon 4 October
Australian Capital Territory
ACT public holidays
Labour DayMon 5 October
Passed
Mon 4 October
Dates from the public holiday lists published by each state and territory government: WA Government - Public holidays, Business Victoria - Victorian public holidays 2026, WorkSafe Tasmania - Public holidays, Queensland Government - Public holidays, NT Government - Public holidays, NSW Government - Public holidays, SafeWork SA - Public holidays, ACT Government - Public holidays.

Why Labour Day is on different dates

Labour Day is a state holiday, not a national one. Section 115(1)(a) of the Fair Work Act 2009 names eight national public holidays: New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the Sovereign's birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Labour Day is not on the list. It becomes a public holiday under section 115(1)(b), which picks up the days each state or territory declares under its own law, and each one has settled on its own Monday.

  • March: Western Australia goes first, on the first Monday in March (Monday 2 March 2026, then Monday 1 March 2027). Victoria's Labour Day and Tasmania's Eight Hours Day follow a week later on the same Monday (Monday 9 March 2026, then Monday 8 March 2027).
  • May: Queensland holds Labour Day on the first Monday in May (Monday 4 May 2026, then Monday 3 May 2027), and the Northern Territory's May Day falls on the same Monday.
  • October: New South Wales holds it on the first Monday in October (Monday 5 October 2026, then Monday 4 October 2027), and South Australia and the ACT use the same Monday.

That is why a search for the 2 March public holiday has an answer in one state only. Monday 2 March 2026 was Labour Day in Western Australia and an ordinary working day everywhere else. The WA date for 2027 is 1 March.

The Victorian and Tasmanian Monday is crowded. In both 2026 and 2027 it is the same day as Adelaide Cup Day in South Australia and Canberra Day in the ACT, the second Monday in March, so four different holidays share one long weekend.

Queensland is the usual source of confusion in October. It does have a Monday public holiday then (Monday 5 October 2026, then Monday 4 October 2027), but it is the King's Birthday, not Labour Day. Queensland's Labour Day is in May.

Because every Labour Day is fixed to a Monday, it never lands on a weekend and never needs a substitute day, unlike Christmas or Anzac Day (see substitute public holidays). It always makes a three-day weekend, and the long weekends in Australia page shows which other holidays share it in each state.

Eight Hours Day in Tasmania, May Day in the NT

Two jurisdictions use a different name for the same holiday. Tasmania's equivalent of Labour Day is Eight Hours Day, held in March with Victoria. In the Northern Territory it is May Day, held in May with Queensland. The name changes and the entitlement does not: both are full public holidays, paid and protected exactly like Labour Day elsewhere.

Who gets Labour Day off

Your Labour Day is the one for the place where you are based for work, not where you live and not where your employer's head office or payroll sits. Section 114(1) of the Fair Work Act fixes the right to be absent by reference to "the place where the employee is based for work purposes". A worker based in Perth for a Melbourne company gets Labour Day on Monday 1 March 2027, not Victoria's on Monday 8 March 2027.

If Monday is a day you would ordinarily work, you are entitled to the day off and to be paid for it. Two groups are not paid for it, and Labour Day catches them more than most holidays because it is always a Monday:

  • Part-time employees who do not work Mondays. With no ordinary hours that day, there is nothing to pay.
  • Casuals who are not rostered. A casual has no ordinary hours, so a Labour Day not worked is unpaid.
Fair Work Act 2009, section 116, Note: "If the employee does not have ordinary hours of work on the public holiday, the employee is not entitled to payment under this section. For example, the employee is not entitled to payment if the employee is a casual employee who is not rostered on for the public holiday, or is a part-time employee whose part-time hours do not include the day of the week on which the public holiday occurs."

Labour Day pay if you work it or take it off

If you take the day off, you are paid your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. That comes from section 116 of the Fair Work Act, so it applies whether or not an award covers you. Base rate means no penalty, no loading and no overtime.

If you work it, the penalty rate comes from your award or enterprise agreement, because the Fair Work Act sets no public holiday penalty of its own. Across the 33 modern awards on this site, 25 pay 250% of the base rate, five pay 225% (Fast Food, Hospitality, General Retail, Restaurant and Pharmacy), two pay 200% (Nurses and Real Estate), and the Teachers Award pays no public holiday penalty at all. The award-by-award table is in public holiday pay rates, and is public holiday pay double time explains why "double pay" is usually the wrong number.

If you are a casual and you work it, the 25% casual loading is normally added to the penalty rather than compounded with it, so a 225% award pays a casual 250%. See public holiday pay for casual employees.

Your employer can ask you to work Labour Day, but the request must be reasonable, and you may refuse if it is not or if your refusal is reasonable. Section 114(4) lists the factors, including your family responsibilities, the nature of the workplace, how much notice you were given and whether your pay reflects an expectation of public holiday work. To put a dollar figure on a shift, use the public holiday pay calculator or check your award on the modern award pay pages.

If Labour Day falls during your annual leave

You keep the day. A public holiday inside a period of paid annual leave is not deducted from your balance, so a week of leave that includes Labour Day costs four days of leave rather than five.

Fair Work Act 2009, section 89: if a period of paid annual leave includes a day that is a public holiday in the place where the employee is based for work purposes, the employee is taken not to be on paid annual leave on that day.

Because Labour Day is always a Monday, a Monday-to-Friday break starting that day needs only four days of leave for nine days away from work. The annual leave planner finds these bridges for you, and the annual leave calculator checks your balance.

Labour Day is one line in each state's calendar. For every date in a year, see the public holidays hub or the full 2027 public holiday calendar, and use the state links in the table above for your own state's list.

Q & A

Labour Day questions.

The dates and pay questions people ask most about Labour Day.

When is Labour Day in 2027?
It depends on the state. Western Australia is first, on Monday 1 March 2027. Victoria follows on Monday 8 March 2027, the same day as Tasmania's Eight Hours Day. Queensland's Labour Day and the Northern Territory's May Day are both on Monday 3 May 2027. New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT hold it on Monday 4 October 2027.
When is Labour Day in Victoria?
Monday 8 March 2027. In 2026 it was Monday 9 March 2026. Victoria's Labour Day is in March, not October as it is in NSW, and it falls on the same Monday as Eight Hours Day in Tasmania.
When is Labour Day in WA?
Monday 1 March 2027, the first Monday in March. In 2026 it was Monday 2 March 2026. WA has the earliest Labour Day in the country, a week before Victoria and Tasmania.
When is Labour Day in Queensland?
Monday 3 May 2027, the first Monday in May. In 2026 it was Monday 4 May 2026. The Monday public holiday Queensland has in October is the King's Birthday, not Labour Day.
When is Labour Day in NSW?
Monday 4 October 2027, the first Monday in October. In 2026 it was Monday 5 October 2026. South Australia and the ACT hold Labour Day on the same Monday.
Do Tasmania and the Northern Territory have Labour Day?
Yes, under different names. Tasmania's equivalent is Eight Hours Day, on Monday 8 March 2027. In the Northern Territory it is May Day, on Monday 3 May 2027. Both are full public holidays with the same pay rules as any other.
Do I get paid for Labour Day if I do not work?
Yes, if Monday is a day you would ordinarily work. Section 116 of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires payment at your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. A part-timer who never works Mondays, or a casual who is not rostered, is not paid for it, because they have no ordinary hours that day.
What if Labour Day falls during my annual leave?
You keep the day. Section 89 of the Fair Work Act says that if a public holiday falls inside a period of paid annual leave, you are taken not to be on annual leave that day. It is paid as a public holiday and not deducted from your leave balance.