Clocks go forward across five Australian jurisdictions on 4 October
Daylight saving begins in five Australian jurisdictions on Sunday, 4 October, with clocks moving forward an hour and people losing an hour of sleep. The change extends evening daylight for outdoor activities and coincides with the NRL grand final; a Labour Day public holiday in NSW, the ACT and South Australia may give some residents a chance to catch up on rest.
NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT will switch from AEST to AEDT, while South Australia moves from ACST to ACDT and remains 30 minutes behind the eastern states. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory will not change their clocks; WA will be three hours behind the eastern daylight-saving states over summer. Many digital devices update automatically, but manual clocks may need changing, and daylight saving is due to end on 4 April 2027.
- Clocks go forward on 4 October in five Australian jurisdictions.
- Queensland, WA and the NT do not observe daylight saving.
- The clocks go back on 4 April 2027.
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Daylight saving time is a seasonal practice where clocks are advanced to make better use of evening daylight during longer days. In Australia, this happens in some but not all states, with five jurisdictions—New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia—moving their clocks forward by one hour on Sunday, 4 October. This change means people will lose an hour of sleep, though it extends the period of daylight in the evenings, which many use for outdoor activities.
Not all Australian states participate in daylight saving. Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory keep their standard time unchanged, which means time differences between states become larger during the summer months. Western Australia, for example, will be three hours behind the eastern states that observe daylight saving, rather than two hours. This creates a patchwork of different times across the country, which can affect scheduling and communication between people in different regions.
The shift requires updating both automatic and manual clocks. Most digital devices—phones, computers, and modern appliances—adjust automatically, but older clocks and watches may need to be changed by hand. The daylight saving period lasts until 4 April 2027, when clocks will be set back to standard time again, meaning this cycle repeats each year in the participating states.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Daylight saving time extends productive evening hours when people are most active, enabling increased outdoor recreation, social activities, and consumer spending that benefits local economies. The alignment of daylight with waking hours improves mood and wellbeing for many, particularly during the darker months, whilst the extended twilight reduces the need for artificial lighting during peak activity periods. For states like Victoria and NSW with large populations and significant tourism sectors, the seasonal shift supports summer activities and holiday spending at a time when conditions are most conducive to such pursuits.
The case against
The sleep disruption caused by clock changes has been linked in peer-reviewed research to increased accident rates, cardiovascular events, and mental health challenges in the days following the shift, with costs that may outweigh any marginal economic gains. Modern heating and cooling systems operate throughout the day and night regardless of daylight timing, making the traditional energy-savings argument obsolete, whilst the inconvenience of manual clock adjustments and digital system failures creates genuine friction. The practice creates unnecessary complexity for interstate commerce and coordination when neighbouring jurisdictions operate on different time zones, and evidence suggests any economic benefit is slight and unevenly distributed.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Millions of Aussies set to lose an hour of sleep this week as clocks go forward: What you need to know”.