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Working hours in Australia

Offices in Australia typically run 09:00–17:00 local time, Monday to Friday. That is about 40 hours a week across 5 working days.

The week in Australia

  1. Mon 09:00–17:00
  2. Tue 09:00–17:00
  3. Wed 09:00–17:00
  4. Thu 09:00–17:00
  5. Fri 09:00–17:00
  6. Sat off
  7. Sun off

When can you reach Australia?

We use the time zone your browser reports. Change it if that is not where you work — the hours below are yours, not UTC.

You are in

Working with Australia: what the hours do not tell you

A 38-hour week, plus hours that must be reasonable

Under the National Employment Standards an employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours a week unless the additional hours are reasonable, and the employee may refuse unreasonable ones. There is no fixed cap beyond that; awards and enterprise agreements set the detail for most workers.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman — Maximum weekly hours fact sheet

A legal right to ignore your evening email

Employees have a right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact outside their working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable, and the right covers contact from third parties such as clients, not only the employer. It has applied since 26 August 2024, and to small businesses of fewer than 15 employees since 26 August 2025. From Europe or the Americas, most of your working day is outside theirs.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman — Small business employees now have the right to disconnect

Three zones, and only some states change clocks

The mainland runs on three standard zones — Western, Central and Eastern — and daylight saving is decided state by state. New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania move their clocks in October and April; Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not. From October to April, Sydney is an hour ahead of Brisbane though both sit in the Eastern zone. This page uses Canberra.

Source: Tourism Australia — Australian time zones

Working with Australia

Hours you share with Australia, computed from each country's own working day rather than a blanket nine-to-five.

What this changes when you schedule

Australia keeps the Saturday and Sunday weekend, so the days line up with most of Europe and the Americas.

A national convention for offices. Individual employers, shift work and retail vary.

Sources and last check

Times, offsets and sun positions on this page are computed live from the IANA timezone database and the NOAA solar algorithm, so they do not depend on the review dates below.

Working hours and weekend days for 55 countries
Source: Published national labour conventions and government working-hours guidance. Last checked, reviewed every 12 months.
Not covered:A national convention, not any given employer. Countries not listed fall back to a nine-to-five, Monday to Friday default, and pages say so rather than implying we checked.

FAQ

What are normal working hours in Australia?

09:00–17:00 local time is the usual office day, about 8 hours.

What days is the working week in Australia?

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. The rest days are Saturday and Sunday.

Is Saturday a working day in Australia?

No. Saturday is a rest day in Australia.

Is Sunday a working day in Australia?

No. Sunday is a rest day in Australia.