The Australian calendar — school terms, sport seasons, public holidays

Aussies organise life around school terms, sport seasons and a handful of long weekends. Here's the shape of the year.

School terms (rough — verify state by state)

• Most states run four terms: late January / early February to early April, late April to late June, mid-July to late September, early October to mid-December.
• Tasmania traditionally ran three terms but moved to four-term alignment in recent years.
• Term break weeks (the holidays) are typically 2 weeks between terms, plus a 6-week summer break.
• State by state dates vary by 1–2 weeks. Check your state education department's site for the year you need.

Public holidays (national)

• 1 January — New Year's Day
• 26 January — Australia Day (contested — many call it Invasion Day or Survival Day)
• Good Friday and Easter Monday (March / April, dates change yearly)
• 25 April — ANZAC Day
• King's Birthday (most states the second Monday in June; WA and QLD on different days)
• 25 December — Christmas Day
• 26 December — Boxing Day

State-specific public holidays

• Labour Day — different states celebrate on different days (Victoria in March, NSW in October, WA in March, etc).
• Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday of November) — public holiday in Victoria.
• Royal Show Days — public holiday in the relevant city (Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, etc).
• WA Day, Queen's / King's Birthday WA — different from the rest.

Sport seasons (rough)

• AFL (Australian Football League) — March to late September. The Grand Final is on the last Saturday of September at the MCG. Dominant winter sport in VIC, SA, WA, TAS, and increasingly nationally.
• NRL (National Rugby League) — March to early October. Grand Final usually first Sunday of October at Accor Stadium in Sydney. Dominant winter sport in NSW and QLD.
• A-League (soccer) — October to May. Smaller crowds but growing.
• Super Rugby Pacific (rugby union) — February to June.
• Big Bash League (T20 cricket) — December to January. The big summer holiday sport.
• Test cricket — November to January. The Boxing Day Test at the MCG and the New Year's Test at the SCG are summer institutions.
• Tennis (Australian Open) — last two weeks of January, in Melbourne.
• Formula 1 (Australian Grand Prix) — March, in Melbourne.

If you live in Melbourne, AFL is unavoidable as conversation fuel from March to September. In Sydney and Brisbane, NRL plays the same role. Picking a team early (or claiming you don't follow) makes small talk easier.