— The Western Australian Government announced that it would like to add two new public holidays and shift several existing ones, with changes planned to take effect in 2028.
The reform ideas have been introduced via the Public and Bank Holidays Amendment Bill 2025, proposing to make Easter Saturday a public holiday and to add a new “Show Day” on the first Monday of the September/October school holidays. Before becoming law, the bill first needs to pass several readings in Parliament, which can take several months.
The plan is to move several holidays, mainly to align the WA holiday calendar with the rest of Australia:
- Labour Day would shift to the second Monday in March (third Monday in state election years).
- Western Australia Day would move to the second Monday in November.
- The King’s Birthday would be observed on the second Monday in June.
Public holidays in Australia generally require higher pay rates for employees who work on those days, which has prompted concern among small businesses about costs and trading restrictions. The shake-up aims to better align WA’s holidays with other states, while creating clearer long-weekend patterns for families and workers.