The Simple Calendar guides
Make time for what matters. Practical reads on Australian holidays, school breaks and making your leave go further.
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The featured readLeave & long weekends
Plan 2027 leave around Australia's Tuesday and Thursday public holidays, Easter and the Christmas stretch to turn a few days into ten.
6 min read
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The guide library
38 guides to explore
School & family
Check QLD pupil-free days for 2027, see which fall during school holidays, and plan care with officially sourced dates for Queensland state schools.
4 min read
Pay & working days
Compare 2027 working days per month across all eight Australian states and territories, with computed annual totals and incomplete-calendar warnings.
4 min read
What's open
Check Christmas and Boxing Day 2026 trading rules by state, with official sources and practical checks for Saturday and Monday shopping.
4 min read
Pay & working days
See the exact 2026 working-day total for every month and Australian state or territory, with each 12-month row reconciled to its annual total.
2 min read
Public holidays
Check Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve 2026 public holidays by state, with local evening hours and practical leave-planning assumptions.
3 min read
Leave & long weekends
Plan Christmas 2026 to New Year 2027 with exact leave dates, computed days off and statewide, substitute and evening holiday differences.
5 min read
School & family
See the confirmed 2026 HSC timetable: written exam start and finish dates, results day, and how many days remain until NSW exams begin.
8 min read
Leave & long weekends
Plan 2027 leave around Australia's Tuesday and Thursday public holidays, Easter and the Christmas stretch to turn a few days into ten.
6 min read
Public holidays
Check whether the NSW Bank Holiday is a declared public holiday, why it is listed, its limited banking scope, and the official 2026–27 dates.
2 min read
Pay & working days
Compare current 2027 working-day totals for every Australian state and territory: 250–253 days from published statewide holiday dates.
2 min read
Public holidays
Which Australian state has the most public holidays? In 2026 the ACT, SA and NT tie at 15; Tasmania has the fewest. The state-by-state comparison.
3 min read
Pay & working days
Compare the exact 2026 working-day totals for every Australian state and territory: 250–253 days after statewide public holidays.
2 min read
School & family
See the confirmed 2026 VCE exam timetable: written exam dates, the GAT, results day, and how the exam period lines up with Victorian school terms.
5 min read
Public holidays
See what's open on Melbourne Cup Day 2026 (Tuesday 3 November) — trading hours, pub hours, and how to get to Flemington by train, tram or bus.
4 min read
Public holidays
Adelaide Cup Day is South Australia's second-Monday-in-March public holiday. Get the 2026, 2027 and 2028 dates, who gets the day off, and the long weekend.
3 min read
Pay & working days
Calculate leave loading step by step, with worked dollar examples at 17.5% on four weeks of leave across common Australian salaries.
5 min read
Pay & working days
Check what public holiday pay actually is in Australia — rates run 150% to 275% depending on your award, not a flat double time figure.
5 min read
Pay & working days
Find out whether casual employees get a paid day off or a higher pay rate for working public holidays, with real 2026 dates by state.
7 min read
Pay & working days
Check how public holiday pay rates work in Australia — penalty rates, casual loading, day-off rules and how to confirm the figure for your award.
8 min read
School & family
Understand pupil-free days across Australia — which states gazette statewide dates, which leave it to schools, and how to find your own school's dates.
6 min read
School & family
Find NSW's 2026 pupil-free days — the Department's default dates for each term, why your school can still move them, and how to confirm.
5 min read
School & family
Check every statewide pupil-free day for Queensland state schools in 2026 — 22–23 January, 16–17 April and 4 September — plus the Ekka variant.
5 min read
Pay & working days
Understand leave loading in Australia — what the 17.5% means, whether it's compulsory, how it's taxed, and how to check your award or EBA.
5 min read
Public holidays
Plan AFL Grand Final Eve on Friday 25 September 2026 — the Grand Final Parade, what's trading in Victoria, and how to stretch the day off into a break.
3 min read
Public holidays
Anzac Day 2027 is Sunday 25 April, with a substitute public holiday on Monday 26 April in NSW, ACT, QLD, NT and WA. What's open, dawn services, and the long weekend.
3 min read
Public holidays
Easter 2028 dates for Australia — Good Friday 14 April to Easter Monday 17 April. The four-day long weekend, and why the date of Easter changes every year.
2 min read
Public holidays
Easter 2027 dates for all Australian states — Good Friday 26 March to Easter Monday 29 March. The free four-day long weekend and how to stretch it with leave.
2 min read
Leave & long weekends
The October long weekend 2026 falls on Sat 3 – Mon 5 October — a public holiday in NSW, ACT, SA and QLD, but not VIC, WA, NT or Tasmania. Here's why.
3 min read
Public holidays
What happens when a public holiday falls on a weekend in Australia? How substitute (day-in-lieu) holidays work — and why Anzac Day is the exception.
3 min read
School & family
School holiday dates for 2027 in every Australian state — when schools go back, the term breaks, and how to plan leave around the calendar.
3 min read
What's open
What's open on Australia Day? Most shops and supermarkets trade on public-holiday hours, unlike Good Friday or Christmas — here's the general guide.
2 min read
What's open
What's open on Good Friday and over Easter in Australia? A general guide to what usually closes, what stays open, and why trading hours vary by state.
3 min read
Public holidays
Easter Tuesday is a restricted public holiday in Tasmania — for the state public service and some award workers, not everyone. Who gets it and the dates.
2 min read
Leave & long weekends
Every 2027 long weekend in Australia, with dates by state — Easter, the Anzac Day Monday, King's Birthday, Labour Day and the Christmas–New Year cluster.
3 min read
Public holidays
Every 2027 public holiday in Australia by state: national dates, the Anzac Day Monday substitute, Christmas substitutes, and each state's unique days.
3 min read
Public holidays
Queensland show holiday dates for 2026 by region — Brisbane Ekka, Gold Coast, Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba and more, with who gets each day off.
2 min read
School & family
School holiday dates for 2026 in every Australian state — plus when schools go back after each break, and how to plan childcare and annual leave around the calendar.
3 min read
Leave & long weekends
How to maximise annual leave in 2026 — the highest-value public holidays to attach leave to, the Tuesday/Thursday trick, and the best windows by state.
3 min read
Past-date guides, kept here for reference. For your next plans, use the current calendars and tools.
