If your New Year’s resolutions included spending less time at work and more time on holiday, you’ll likely already be looking ahead to how you can actually make that happen.
While winning the lottery would be helpful, the more realistic approach is to be strategic and plan carefully to maximise your time off, using public holidays to extend your much-needed downtime.
Use our helpful 2026 guide below to essentially double your holidays by carefully planning out your annual leave, resulting in a whopping 54 days of blissful holiday potential.
Invasion Day
For the Invasion Day weekend in 2026, if you take four days of annual leave between January 24 and February 1, you’ll get nine days off:
- Saturday 24 January: Weekend
- Sunday 25 January: Weekend
- Monday 26 January: Australia Day public holiday
- Tuesday 27 January: Annual Leave
- Wednesday 28 January: Annual Leave
- Thursday 29 January: Annual Leave
- Friday 30 January: Annual Leave
Easter break 2026
Over the Easter break in 2026, if you take eight days of annual leave between March 28 and April 10, you’ll enjoy 16 days off:
- March 28 Weekend
- March 29: Weekend
- Mar 30: Annual leave
- March 31: Annual leave
- April 1: Annual leave
- April 2: Annual leave
- Friday 3 April: Good Friday public holiday
- Saturday 4 April: Weekend
- Sunday 5 April: Easter Sunday (weekend)
- Monday 6 April: Easter Monday public holiday
- Tuesday 7 April: Annual Leave
- Wednesday 8 April: Annual Leave
- Thursday 9 April: Annual Leave
- Friday 10 April: Annual Leave
- Saturday 11 April: Weekend
- Sunday 12 April: Weekend
King’s birthday 2026
With the exception of those in Queensland and Western Australia (sorry), if you take off June 5, you’ll get four days off over the King’s birthday long weekend in 2026:
- Friday 5 June: Annual Leave
- Saturday 6 June: Weekend
- Sunday 7 June: Weekend
- Monday 8 June: King’s Birthday public holiday
Labour day (NSW)
If you take four days of annual leave between October 3 and October 11, you’ll secure nine days of holiday for yourself.
- October 3: Weekend
- October 4: Weekend
- October 5: Public holiday (Labour Day)
- October 6: Annual leave
- October 7: Annual leave
- October 8: Annual leave
- October 9: Annual leave
- October 10: Weekend
- October 11: Weekend
Christmas and New Year break 2026
Be smart and book your Christmas and New Years break in now. For 2026, if you take seven days of annual leave between December 19 and January 3, you’ll score 16 days off:
- Saturday 19 December: Weekend
- Sunday 20 December: Weekend
- Monday 21 December: Annual Leave
- Tuesday 22 December: Annual Leave
- Wednesday 23 December: Annual Leave
- Thursday 24 December: Annual Leave
- Friday 25 December: Christmas Day public holiday
- Saturday 26 December: Boxing Day (Weekend)
- Sunday 27 December: Weekend
- Monday 28 December: Additional public holiday for Boxing Day
- Tuesday 29 December: Annual Leave
- Wednesday 30 December: Annual Leave
- Thursday 31 December: Annual Leave
- Friday 1 January: Public holiday
- Saturday 2 January: Weekend
- Sunday 3 January: Weekend
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