The Australian calendar is filled with public holidays and by booking your annual leave around them, you can turn a few days of leave into an entire week off. Best to get in quick and book your leave. It goes without saying this isn’t an article to share with your colleagues.

When is the Easter break, and when should I book my leave?

Take four days of annual leave from April 3 – 6 and you’re in for a 10-day break over Easter. By taking the week before Easter off, you’ll enjoy over a week of holidays for just a few days out of your leave balance. If you live in Tasmania, this extends to 11 days with Easter Tuesday.

When is ANZAC Day, and is it a public holiday?

While ANZAC Day is officially listed as a national public holiday, when it falls on a weekend, it doesn’t automatically mean a day off. Thankfully for all states and territories, the 25th of April falls on a Tuesday in 2023, meaning you can score yourself an extra long weekend if you take the Monday off.

How to combine the two for 19 consecutive days off

Perfect for an overseas trip, you can take annual leave between Easter and ANZAC Day and make a brief appearance in the office for the month of April. By taking Tuesday April 11 to Monday April 24 – 10 days of annual leave – you will score 19 consecutive days off counting weekends.

For folks in Tassie, that goes up to 20 consecutive days off with just nine days of annual leave.

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When is the King’s Birthday, and when should I book my leave?

For all states except Queensland and Western Australia, the King’s Birthday public holiday and long weekend falls on June 12 this year.

Western Australia will celebrate the King’s Birthday with a day off on Monday September 25 and Queensland will hold the public holiday on Monday October 2.

With all those dates falling on a Monday, you can enjoy four days off in a row by taking the Friday off before the weekend.

You may be wondering why the King’s Birthday is the same day as the Queen’s Birthday. Though the date in June is neither sovereigns’ actual birthday, the date was chosen for people to enjoy the weather. Obviously more in the UK when it’s summer. (In case you’re wondering, King Charles’ birthday is on November 14.)

What leave should I book at Christmas?

Christmas leave is always fought over and booked months in advance. For the end of 2023, you can turn three days of annual leave into 10 consecutive days off. All states and territories have public holidays on Christmas Day (December 25), Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year’s Day (January 1). If any of those days fall on a weekend, substitute days are given. For 2022 and 2023, all days fall on weekdays.

For a full list of the 2023 public holidays in your state, head here.

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