{"id":714370,"date":"2026-06-04T08:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/714370\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T08:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:22:18","slug":"when-is-the-kings-birthday-public-holiday-which-states-get-monday-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/714370\/","title":{"rendered":"When is the King’s Birthday public holiday? Which states get Monday off?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Australians are about to have a long weekend thanks to the King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday.<\/p>\n

But not everyone will have the day off.<\/p>\n

Here’s why.<\/p>\n

Which states have a public holiday on Monday?<\/p>\n

The following states have their King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday, June 8:<\/p>\n

ACTNew South WalesNorthern TerritorySouth AustraliaTasmaniaVictoriaWhich states don’t have a public holiday on Monday?QueenslandWestern Australia<\/p>\n

The public holiday for the sovereign’s birthday in Queensland is on October 5.<\/p>\n

Most of Western Australia has its King’s Birthday public holiday on September 28 this year.<\/p>\n

But regional cities Karratha and Port Hedland will have their public holidays on August 3.<\/p>\n

Last year, Western Australian Premier Roger Cook said his government was looking at aligning the state’s public holidays<\/a> with the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

But he said that probably wouldn’t happen until next year.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the Queensland government decided to move the public holiday from June to October<\/a> to spread public holidays throughout the year.<\/p>\n

A year later, there was a change of government, which decided to change the sovereign’s birthday public holiday back to June and shift Labour Day to October.<\/p>\n

Then in 2015, a new Queensland government moved the sovereign’s birthday holiday back to October<\/a> and changed Labour Day back to May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When is King Charles’s actual birthday?<\/p>\n

King Charles was born on November 14.<\/p>\n

Why isn’t the public holiday on King Charles’s actual birthday?<\/p>\n

It goes back to a British tradition called Trooping the Colour \u2014 and has quite a bit to do with the weather over there.<\/p>\n

Trooping the Colour is essentially a military parade that the British Army says dates back to the reign of King Charles II from 1660 to 1685.<\/p>\n

“In 1748 it was decided that this parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the sovereign,” the British Army’s website says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It became an annual event after George III became king in 1760.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A parade of this scale is best enjoyed during sunny British weather, compared to a potentially drizzly November day. (Retuers: Toby Melville)<\/p>\n

While troops are trained to march in all kinds of conditions, it’s generally better for a military parade to be staged during fine, sunny weather \u2014 especially if you want crowds of people lining the streets to watch.<\/p>\n

And England’s winters are notoriously un-sunny, so it was generally best to hold a parade in summer even if the reigning monarch’s birthday was in a different month.<\/p>\n

Here’s how the royal family website explains it<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Official celebrations to mark the Sovereigns’ birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“King Edward VII, for example, was born on 9 November, but his official birthday was marked throughout his reign in May or June when there was a greater likelihood of good weather for the Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour.”<\/p>\n

Remember that the UK is in the Northern Hemisphere, which experiences summer while we in the Southern Hemisphere are in winter.<\/p>\n

That means the English summer months are June, July and August.<\/p>\n

To take advantage of the cheerier weather, the Trooping the Colour parade is generally held on the second Saturday of June every year.<\/p>\n

While Australian state and territory governments can decide when to mark the public holiday, many have opted for a date that fairly closely aligns with the British celebrations.<\/p>\n

This year, Trooping the Colour will be held in London on June 13 \u2014 the weekend after most Australians get the public holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/p>\n

The parade is held in honour of the sovereign, but does not align with their actual birthday. (Reuters: Toby Melville)<\/p>\n

Why does Australia have a public holiday for King Charles?<\/p>\n

Because, as a result of the colonisation of Australia, we’re part of the British Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

And King Charles is the head of the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

King Charles is Australia’s head of state, represented here by the governor-general, but the king does not have a role in the day-to-day running of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"King<\/p>\n

King Charles III was actually born on November 14. (Reuters: Henry Nicholls)<\/p>\n

When is the next public holiday?<\/p>\n

There are only a few more public holidays left in the year.<\/p>\n

Tap the drop-down box to see the list of the remaining public holidays for your state or territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the ACT’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, October 5:\u00a0Labour DayFriday, December 25:\u00a0 Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday 28 December: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, October 5: Labour DayFriday, December 25:\u00a0Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday 28 December: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the Northern Territory’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, August 3: Picnic DayThursday, December 24: Christmas Eve (from 7 pm to midnight)Friday, December 25:\u00a0Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday 28 December: Additional public holiday for Boxing DayThursday, December 31: New Year’s Eve (from 7 pm to midnight)<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, October 5: King\u2019s BirthdayThursday, December 24: Christmas Eve (from 6 pm to midnight)Friday, December 25:\u00a0Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday 28 December: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, October 5:\u00a0Labour DayThursday, December 24: Christmas Eve (from 7pm to midnight)Friday, December 25:\u00a0Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Proclamation Day holidayMonday, December 28: Additional public holiday for Proclamation Day holidayThursday, December 31: New Year’s Eve (from 7pm to midnight)<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Thursday, October 22: Royal Hobart Show (only observed in certain areas of the state, including Hobart)Monday, November 2: Recreation Day (areas of the state that don\u2019t observe Royal Hobart Regatta)Friday, December 25: Christmas DayMonday, December 28: Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Friday, September 25: Friday before the AFL Grand FinalTuesday, November 3: Melbourne Cup (some regional areas in Victoria hold the Melbourne Cup public holiday on a different date)Friday, December 25: Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday, December 28: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the state’s public holidays for the year:<\/p>\n

Monday, September 28: King’s Birthday (some regional areas in WA hold the King’s Birthday public holiday on a different date)Friday, December 25: Christmas DaySaturday, December 26: Boxing DayMonday, December 28: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day<\/p>\n

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman<\/a> and Business Victoria<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many Australians are about to have a long weekend thanks to the King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,2546,15399,97176,15385,97170,346903,346900,346899,346902,346901],"class_list":["post-714370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-king-charles","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-kings-birthday","tag-prince-charles","tag-public-holiday","tag-when-is-king-charles-birthday","tag-when-is-the-kings-birthday","tag-when-is-the-next-public-holidays","tag-who-is-the-king","tag-why-is-it-a-public-holiday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}