Australia Time

Australia is divided into three time zones. However, there is further variance between times in the states and territories in summer months since not all regions participate in Daylight Saving.

AWST

Australian Western Standard Time.

This covers Western Australia.

This state does not have Daylight Saving time.

ACST

Australian Central Standard Time.

This covers the central regions of the Northern Territory and South Australia.

(NOTE — The far western NSW town of Broken Hill is also included in ACST).

The Northern Territory does not have Daylight Saving.

South Australia has Daylight Saving.

During Daylight Saving, clocks are advanced forward by one hour and the time is known as ACDT (Australian Central Daylight Time).

AEST

Australian Eastern Standard Time.

This covers all the eastern regions of Queensland, NSW (except Broken Hill), the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania.

Queensland does not have Daylight Saving.

New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania have Daylight Saving.

During Daylight Saving, clocks are advanced forward by one hour and the time is known as AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).

Time Example

As an example, Sydney time from the first Sunday in April through to early October is officially AEST (and is the same as the time in Brisbane.)

However, from the first Sunday in October through to early April the time in Sydney is AEDT (but is then one hour ahead of Brisbane time).

New Zealand Time

The country of New Zealand (NZ) is situated to the south east of Australia. Since it has very close historical, social and political links to Australia, NZ time info is also presented here.

To illustrate travel between the two countries and the distances involved, Sydney is around 2220km (1380 miles) from Wellington, and a typical flight duration is around three hours.

The two main islands of New Zealand, the North and South Islands, use a single common time zone — New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) during the winter period from April to September — and New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) over summer.

NZ Daylight Saving Time

During the winter period, NZST is 12 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+12).

During the summer period Daylight Saving is observed and clocks are advanced by one hour. Then, NZDT is 13 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+13).

Daylight Saving begins at 02:00am on the last Sunday in September and ends at 03:00am on the first Sunday in April.

(Hence 03:00am NZDT becomes 02:00am NZST.)

NOTE — These daylight saving dates don't perfectly coincide with Australia's.

The Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand (the national metrology institute) displays official NZ time on their website.

Destinations

Australia has six states and two mainland territories.

The States

Western Australia (WA)

Capital: Perth. In WA, Australia's largest state, you can experience the unbelievable vastness of the real Australian outback. See historic townships, explore Aboriginal culture and enjoy the endless landscape of this natural paradise. Visit the incredible rugged and rocky Kimberley in the north west or visit the historic gold town of Kalgoorlie. Enjoy some of the most beautiful yet uncrowded beaches in the world. See wild dolphins up close at legendary Monkey Mia and other natural wonders.

South Australia (SA)

Capital: Adelaide. Enjoy travel to SA. Adelaide is the wine capital of Australia and home of many internationally acclaimed wine brands. See the diverse wildlife, maybe even a migrating whale and other Australian wonders on Kangaroo Island. Tour the outback to many amazing destinations like the ancient Flinders Ranges, the vastness of Lake Eyre (empty most of the time!) or the famous opal town of Coober Pedy as you explore the heart of Australia and the panoramic landscapes.

Queensland (QLD)

Capital: Brisbane. QLD is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef. (The photo of the Whitsunday Islands on top of this page is half way down the QLD coast near Mackay). Activities are endless — swimming, sailing, sightseeing and much more are all popular in this natural wonder of the world. QLD is also famous for it's Gold Coast south of the capital Brisbane and legendary beaches like Surfers Paradise. The state also has popular attractions like dense rainforests and national parks to visit. And like the whole of Australia, there are great hotels and restaurants everywhere.

New South Wales (NSW)

Capital: Sydney. NSW is home to the iconic Sydney Opera House, acclaimed worldwide as one of the most beautiful buildings of the modern era. Sydney, Australia's largest city, is also home to Bondi Beach and many other attractions, hotels and restaurants. The state has 1590 km (988 miles) of beautiful beaches, such as those around Cape Byron, Australia's most easterly point. Inland, there are spectacular landscapes and national parks to visit, such as the fabled Blue Mountains where you can peer into vast green valleys from cliff top look-outs far above.

Victoria (VIC)

Capital: Melbourne. Victoria's capital Melbourne is home to the National Gallery of Victoria and the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens, which hosts more than 1.6million visitors a year. The city has many attractions, such as going inside Old Melbourne Gaol, visiting many other historic buildings, restaurants and music venues. A "can't miss" attraction in Victoria is Sovereign Hill, site of the world's largest alluvial gold deposit. Wander around this picturesque town which is preserved as it was more than a century ago and visit the intriguing museum.

Tasmania (TAS)

Capital: Hobart. Tasmania is home to large areas of truly magnificent forests, spectacular rivers, lakes and landscapes. No wonder, then, that the Tasmanian Wilderness is on the World Heritage List. The diversity of flora is extraordinary, with some of the world's oldest and tallest trees and tallest flowering plants thriving there. The island state is also a great place to learn about Australia's historic convict past, go on a driving tour and much much more. More info is available at our sister site TasmaniaTravel.com

The Territories

Northern Territory (NT)

Capital: Darwin. See for yourself the rugged and ancient Kakadu National Park, and see why it is so deservedly on the World Heritage List. Visit incredible mountain gorges, panoramic wetlands and see superb indigenous art from thousands of years ago. Visit Uluru, the world's largest rock in the centre of Australia, also heritage listed. This massive rock rises up a spectacular 340 meters (1115 feet) — truly a sight to behold. The NT is also home to interesting and colorful towns like Darwin and Alice Springs.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Capital: Canberra. The ACT is home to Canberra, Australia's capital. Canberra was a planned city, and one of the most successful in the world. It sits on the spectacular Lake Burley Griffin where boating activities are very popular. Canberra is home to the National Gallery (with great international, Australian and indigenous collections) and also the Australian War Memorial which has more than one million visitors each year. It's comparable to a museum and has a very large collection of military planes, hardware, medals, uniforms, archives and displays.

NOTE — The ACT is a relatively small region of Australia and is entirely enclosed within the south east corner of the state of New South Wales. Canberra is the capital of Australia and the location of the Federal Parliament.

More Time Information

Live updating time data on this website is provided by Time Zone Authority.

Much of the technical info about time zones published here is based on Australian Government time information where you can view official facts and figures in detail.

(Comprehensive info about all aspects of Australia can also be found at the Australian Government's official website.)

The US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology — the NIST — has an excellent FAQ page with advanced information about time measurement, conventions, UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), atomic clocks and much more.

Even more information about UTC can be seen on the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) website. This is also known as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The BIPM is the official agency that calculates International Atomic Time (TAI) which forms the foundation of UTC.

International Atomic Time is calculated using the data from more than 300 super accurate atomic clocks located in over 60 laboratories worldwide. UTC is based on this atomic time calculation, however from time to time it is adjusted via the addition of an extra leap second. This is necessary due to the instability of the speed and rotation of the Earth itself.

About 35 leap seconds have been added in the last 50 years.

UTC is the international standard for world time measurement. It is a "constant" and does not intrinsically have Daylight Saving. It is based on time at the Prime Meridian at 0° Longitude which passes through England (near Greenwich) and about seven other countries. The time in all countries can be described as UTC± x, where x=hours. For example, Brisbane time is always UTC+10.

The BIPM publishes info about how 300 atomic clocks around the world are used to calculate precise International Atomic Time to provide the basis for UTC. UTC has superseded GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) though in practical terms it means much the same thing. Hence London, where Greenwich is located, is based on a UTC±0 time value (from October to March when it doesn't use Daylight Saving). The Prime Meridian at 0° Longitude (close to Greenwich) is the international standard for time measurement by convention. This location establishes the foundation marker for the global time standard...

...However, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, London moves one hour ahead to Daylight Saving (UTC+1). Of course, being in the northern hemisphere, London's Daylight Saving is almost the opposite of Australia's. This helps to explain why a flight from Australia to another country, especially in the northern hemisphere, can seem to have greatly different arrival times depending on what time of year you fly. This needs to be considered if you are making travel plans.

Further detailed information about international time measurement and Australian travel destinations can also be found at Wikipedia.

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