Christmas Eve 2026

Christmas Eve is 24 December, the day before Christmas Day. It is not a full public holiday in any state or territory. South Australia and the Northern Territory treat 7pm to midnight as a part-day public holiday, and Queensland does the same from 6pm to midnight. In the other states and the ACT it is an ordinary working day. The date is fixed: in 2026 it falls on Thursday 24 December, and in 2027 on Friday 24 December.

Shops, schools and work

Christmas Eve is a working day for most people. On a weekday, banks, government offices and most businesses open as usual, although many close early and some begin a shutdown that lasts until after New Year. Government schools are already on their summer holidays. In South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland the evening hours count as a public holiday, which mainly affects people working in retail, hospitality, transport and emergency services. Public transport typically runs normal or reduced evening services. The working days calculator on this site shows the number of working days in December for each state.

History

Christmas Eve owes its place in the calendar to the Christian practice of beginning a feast on the evening before. Churches have long held vigil services on the night of 24 December, and the Catholic midnight Mass celebrates the birth of Jesus as Christmas Day begins. These customs reached Australia with British and Irish settlers, along with carol singing. The day itself was never one of the traditional public holidays, which in every colony and later every state centred on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Legal recognition came much later and only for the evening. South Australia introduced a part-day public holiday from 7pm to midnight on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and the arrangement now sits in the Public Holidays Act 2023 (SA). The Northern Territory has the same hours under its Public Holidays Act 1981. Queensland added a part-day public holiday from 6pm to midnight on Christmas Eve in 2019, under the Holidays Act 1983. In each jurisdiction, employees who work those evening hours receive public holiday conditions for that time.

How Australians spend the day

For most households Christmas Eve is a day of final preparations. Shopping centres usually extend trading in the days before Christmas, and seafood markets in several capitals open early to meet demand for Christmas lunch. In the evening many people attend carols events in parks and local halls. Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne is held on Christmas Eve and broadcast on television. Churches hold evening services, and Catholic parishes celebrate a vigil or midnight Mass. Many workplaces close early in the afternoon, and some people travel to relatives on Christmas Eve ahead of Christmas Day. In most households presents are opened on Christmas morning rather than the night before.

Facts

• South Australia and the Northern Territory observe a part-day public holiday from 7pm to midnight on Christmas Eve, matching their part-day holiday on New Year's Eve.
• Queensland's part-day public holiday on Christmas Eve runs from 6pm to midnight and applies under the Holidays Act 1983.
• The part-day holiday applies on 24 December whatever the weekday, with no substitute day. In 2028 Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday.
• New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have no public holiday on Christmas Eve, so it is a normal working day there.