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If you get up early for work and you’re already sick of fumbling around in the dark, there’s brighter news on the horizon – daylight saving is almost at an end.
From Sunday, April 5, 2026, people in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW), South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria will get to sleep in for an extra hour.
Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not participate in daylight savings, mostly because the broader distance between their southern and northern latitudes would result in very different experiences for those that live there.
If you do live in a state that observes daylight saving, at 3am on April 5 clocks will jump back by one hour to 2am AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). That means an extra hour before your alarm goes off each morning.
These days, most smartphones, computers and digital devices will automatically adjust the time for you.
Analogue clocks and watches, as well as some older digital devices (such as the clock in your car), will need to be changed manually, in which case, you want to set them back one hour.
For example, if your wristwatch is showing 7am on the morning of Sunday April 5, 2026, wind it back to 6am. (And maybe go back to bed for an hour.)
Don’t forget to scour the house for appliances with clocks, such as microwaves, that need to be set back an hour, too.
If you’re not a morning person, rejoice – you’ll get up an hour later when daylight saving ends! Parents of little kids often appreciate this time of year, too, because it means they’re not trying to put their children to bed when the sun is still up.
The days will continue to get shorter as we move towards the winter solstice on June 21, 2026 (the shortest day of the year). The further south you live, the shorter the day – Hobart in Tasmania will only see about nine hours of sunlight on June 21.
Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday of April in Australia each year, for those jurisdictions that observe it. For 2026, that means daylight saving time will end on Sunday April 5, which is also Easter Sunday.
As a result, many of us could be enjoying a long weekend away when daylight saving ends – but don’t forget that also means double demerits!
Daylight saving time starts each year on the first Sunday in October in Australia. For 2026, that means daylight savings time will start on Sunday, October 4 – a long weekend in NSW, The ACT, South Australia and Queensland.
The date continues to change each year, every six months, and always early on a Sunday morning.
There’s no official reason, although the assumption is Sunday is a less disruptive day for businesses, schools and families (you don’t want half the nation running late for work!).
It certainly is. If you’re planning a northern hemisphere trip, keep in mind that daylight saving starts and ends on different dates depending on where you land.
In the US, clocks spring forward on the second Sunday in March and don’t fall back until the first Sunday in November.
Over in the UK, the shift comes a little later, with daylight saving beginning on the last Sunday in March and wrapping up on the last Sunday in October.
There are five Australian states and territories that observe daylight saving time: the ACT, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
People in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia don’t observe daylight saving time – much to the delight of many farmers.
Although you’ll hear many people say ‘daylight savings’, the correct term is ‘daylight saving’. That’s because the purpose of observing this time change each year is saving daylight (not savings daylight).
