December 2026 Holidays – Australia
Below is a list of holidays and observances in Australia for December 2026, with the weekday each one falls on and how many days until it arrives. Click a holiday name to see its dates for the next 10 years. Public holidays are official days off; observances are popular days that are not official holidays; regional holidays apply only in some states or provinces.
December 2026 brings three public holidays and two observances in Australia. The ones that actually close offices and schools are Christmas Day on Friday 25 December, Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December and Boxing Day (substitute day) on Monday 28 December. December tends to mean Advent markets, Christmas and the long end-of-year break, so the diary usually fills up whether there's a day off in it or not.
Each date below shows the weekday it falls on and a live countdown, worked out when you load the page. Nothing here goes stale. Click a holiday name for its background, the rule that fixes the date, and the same date across the next ten years.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Type | Days until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24 | Thursday | Christmas Eve | Observance | 100 |
| Dec 25 | Friday | Christmas Day | Public | 101 |
| Dec 26 | Saturday | Boxing Day | Public | 102 |
| Dec 28 | Monday | Boxing Day (substitute day) | Public | 104 |
| Dec 31 | Thursday | New Year's Eve | Observance | 107 |
Understanding the December 2026 holiday list
There are three kinds of entry on this page and the difference matters once you start planning. Public holidays are official days off: schools, banks and government offices shut, most businesses close or run short hours, and public transport often drops to a Sunday timetable. Observances get marked by plenty of people but are ordinary working days. Valentine's Day and Halloween are the obvious ones. Regional holidays are days off in part of a country only, in one state, province, canton or federal state. If you spot one listed, check it applies where you actually live or work before you count on the day being free.
The "days until" column counts from today, so this page stays current on its own and is worth a bookmark. Every holiday name links to its own page with the date for the next ten years, the rule that sets it, and what happens if it lands on a weekend. That last one catches people out: in Australia, a public holiday falling at the weekend may be given as a substitute day off on the following weekday.
Every date here is worked out from the official rule rather than copied off a static list, which is why the later years are as trustworthy as this one. Easter-linked holidays move with the lunar calendar and anything defined as "the third Monday of…" shifts each year. Both are handled automatically. If a date ever doesn't match your region, let us know. Holiday legislation changes and we update the rules when it does.
Holidays in other months of 2026
January February March April May June July August September October November December
December holidays in other years
December 2026 December 2027 December 2028
Open the printable December 2026 calendar
Holidays in other countries
We publish holiday calendars for 19 countries across North America, Europe and Australia. Switch country to see the same 2026 list localised, with the correct week start and date conventions:
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