Some people need to work through Christmas because their jobs don’t pause for public holidays. For others, 25 December is a chance to volunteer for causes greater than themselves.
Here five people, who spend their Christmas Days treating the injured, feeding hungry people and animals, transporting others and patrolling the beach, share a glimpse into their working days.
Midnight in the emergency department
Lindsay Dinmore
Lindsay Dinmore, an emergency nurse, says burns and strains can be quite common on Christmas Day. Photograph: Joanna Wills
I’ve been working in St Vincent’s emergency for five years now, and I’ve worked almost every Christmas. I do night shift specifically to have some time off over new year’s and to see my family the morning of Christmas Eve.
I start at 9pm, with about 19 staff. All of us will be in our Christmas scrubs! We meet in the handover room to find out how the day went and if there were any safety concerns. Then bedside handover follows, which allows for a thorough exchange about the patients we will be caring for. The beginning of our shift is always a bit of a rush, then it eases.
It’s not the usual hustle and bustle. There are less staff and people tend to take their time – of course, if it needs to be sped up for the patient, it will – but it’s nice to just walk and not run sometimes.
On Christmas, emergency departments tend to be less crowded with routine cases. However, it doesn’t mean it’s less intense. We might see more alcohol-related injuries, such as falls or minor car accidents, and an increase in incidents like burns from cooking at home, when all these people are cooking their big turkeys. There’s also people who overdo it physically and come in with musculoskeletal injuries – sprains, falls and broken bones. We also see a lot of people experiencing mental health crises, and feel very lonely. Christmas can be a very emotional time for some and the pressure can exacerbate issues like anxiety and depression.
Within the staff, there’s a strong sense of teamwork, and we do things to make the shift a bit more joyful, like bringing in lots of snacks to share, making the occasional joke and taking our annual staff Christmas photograph. Plus, the department is full of Christmas decorations.
When we finish at 7am on Christmas Day, we’re trying to keep our eyes open. We do handover to make sure that everything is checked, signed and safe – then everybody goes home and has a good sleep, before clocking on again on Christmas night.
Four flights in one day
Deborah Lawrie
Pilot Deborah Lawrie says there’s usually a lighthearted atmosphere on her Christmas flights. Photograph: Deborah Lawrie
I’ve been an airline pilot since 1980 and with Virgin Australia since 2022. For my time as a pilot, I’ve probably worked about 30 or 40% of Christmas Days.
This Christmas Day, I start at 7.30am and I don’t finish until 5.50pm, so it’s a very long duty. Before I leave home, I have a quick look at the weather for my destinations, just to get an idea of what to expect throughout the day. Then I get myself to the airport and go through security.
We usually go straight to the aircraft and meet the other crew, where we look at the flight plan and the aircraft technical log to make sure all the right checks have been done and there are no defects. The pilots do pre-flight checks in the cockpit and outside the aircraft, while the flight attendants do their checks in the cabin. My first flight on Christmas Day is from Sydney to Melbourne. Then I’m back to Sydney, down to Launceston and back to Sydney again. I will spend most of the day in the aircraft.
Working over Christmas feels a little different, because passengers are usually in holiday mode or off to visit family and are in good spirits. I think the crew are also a bit more cheery. There’s often some special treats on board and the cabin crew usually wear Christmas hats or have decorations on their uniforms. We wish all our passengers a happy Christmas and, when air traffic control is speaking to us, we exchange greetings with them too.
I will be feeling pretty tired by the end of the day and, since my family aren’t in Sydney, I’ll just go home and relax. I’m doing something special with them in Melbourne before Christmas instead.
An early start in the ungulate enclosures
Darcie Monks
Zookeeper Darcie Monks looks forward to the big team lunch each Christmas. Photograph: Darcie Monks
I’ve been a zookeeper at Taronga Zoo for three years and I work with ungulates, which are hoofed mammals. I’ve worked every Christmas since being here.
Christmas Day is sort of like any other. We start at normal time, 6.30am, so it’s quite bright and early. We make sure the space is all ready and set up for the animals – and we like to make it a bit fun, so sometimes we give the animals extra treats for Christmas or an enrichment that’s Christmas-related. We have a wreath of branches for our giraffes and it spells out ‘Ho ho ho!’ Obviously they don’t know what that means but it’s more fun for the public and the giraffes love an extra treat.
The middle of the day is where we do a lot of public interaction – either talks or encounters. Last year, quite a few families came in to spend the day and it’s nice to spread that cheer and joy. We also do a big Taronga team Christmas lunch, which is really fun and something I look forward to. It’s not just our team, so it’s nice to catch up with people from the zoo that I don’t see every day.
We usually finish at 2.50pm, after giving the animals their last big feed and making sure they’re all set for the evening. Then I head home and get to spend Christmas dinner with my family – who are quite excited when I tell them all the animals stories from the day! I actually really look forward to working Christmas.
Marcus Annett
Marcus Annett, right, spends Christmas waiting tables at the Wayside chapel, in Sydney’s Kings Cross. Photograph: Wayside Chapel
I started volunteering at Wayside Chapel in 2018 and this is my third Christmas Day.
This Christmas, myself and my partner, John, are doing two shifts. In the morning, we will get there about 9am. We’re welcoming people to the Christmas service, greeting the entire community and getting people sat down. The service itself starts at 10am.
Then, at 11am, we’re waiting tables. I picked that role because it’s just such a beautiful way to connect with our visitors and our community. We serve about 800 three-course meals on the day, which is pretty cool and a big logistical thing. It’s lots of running around and it’s all about doing it quickly and gracefully. Just delivering everything with a smile and lots of high fives, lots of hugs. The waiting shifts for the lunch service is until 2pm or 3pm – and then I go home and take a big, deep breath out. I’m probably a little exhausted in the best possible way!
I never grew up with Christmas as a tradition, because my family were Jehovah’s Witnesses and so they don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m probably a bit sceptical about the commercial side of Christmas but I think what Wayside does feels very real and authentic. It really is something everyone is welcome to – all the neighbours, all of the community who’ve been around Wayside, folks who are using our services currently, or folks who have used them in the past. It is a beautiful mixing pot and I think the energy is quite remarkable.
Christmas between the flags
Beth
Beth, 15, left, spends Christmas patrolling as a surf life-saver with her brothers and father. Photograph: Rod McGibbon
I’ve been a surf life-saver at Bungan Beach for three years and it’s a bit of a family affair – my dad and two brothers all do it. I’ve spent the last few Christmas Days at the beach with my family and the last two volunteering on patrol.
I’ll get to the beach by about 8am and the day will run like a pretty normal patrol. We’ll open the clubhouse, set up the tent, the inflatable rescue boat and the flags. For the last couple of years, we’ve had one of the locals come down and give us breakfast. It’s a way to thank us for patrolling on Christmas Day, which is really nice.
If the weather is nice, I’ll go for a morning swim and then Mum will come down with a packed Christmas lunch.
Bungan is never overly busy. There’s quite a few people who come for a morning swim but, by lunchtime, there’s basically nobody on the beach because everyone’s having their Christmas lunch. People come back for a swim at about 3pm, so there might be between 50 and 70 people on the beach, one of the busier days of the year for Bungan. We’ve never had to do a major rescue on Christmas Day before – it’s mainly telling kids to swim between the flags and to move away from rips.
We pack up, pull the flags down at 5pm and go home. When I clock off for the day, I feel pretty good. It’s always fun to spend the day at the beach and, on top of that, helping the community always makes me feel pretty good.
I think it’s a cool family tradition. Not many people I know patrol on Christmas Day!