Daylight saving time to start in Australia in days – what you need to know

Warmer weather and longer days will soon usher in a new moment of spring, when many states and territories will move their clocks forward an hour.

Daylight saving time will soon impact many Australians as the country moves from three to five time zones.

Here you will find an overview of everything you need to know.

When does daylight saving time start?

Four of Australia’s six states and one of the country’s two territories observe daylight saving time.

Clocks will go forward one hour in NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and South Australia at 2am on Sunday 6 October.

In these states and territories, the day is easy to remember: it’s the first Sunday in October.

Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving time.

And for those Australians who don’t like the extra hour of sunshine, it ends at 3am on Sunday, April 6, 2025, when we turn back the clocks one hour.

Who invented daylight saving time – and why?

It was a New Zealander, George Hudson, who came up with the idea in 1895 – but due to a time difference of only two hours, Radio New Zealand reported.

Mr. Hudson, an insect collector, wanted to collect insects after work and needed more hours of daylight.

After presenting his idea to the Wellington Philosophy Society, he eventually received support from MP Sir Thomas Kay Sidey.

But it wasn’t until 1927, when Hudson was 60, that his country passed a law allowing the clocks to be moved forward one hour from the first Sunday in November to the first Sunday in March.

Similar ideas were also discussed by other people elsewhere.

British builder William Willett self-published a pamphlet in 1907 in which he urged people to move time forward in the summer so that there was more time for outdoor activities – in addition to lower lighting costs, the BBC reported.

Which Australian states do not have daylight saving time?

Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving time.

But it has become a hotly debated topic in Queensland and Western Australia over the years.

Tasmania was the first Australian state to start moving the clock forward in 1916. 7 News reported.

Throughout the twentieth century, several states and territories tried, reintroduced, and abolished daylight saving time.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the current four states and one territory have taken part in the annual time change since 1971.

And for Australians who don’t like the extra hour of sunshine, it ends at 3am on Sunday April 6, 2025, when we turn back the clocks one hour.

Why doesn’t all of Australia have daylight saving time?

Even in the parts that participate annually, summer time is still questioned.

Aussies who oppose it have several reasons for abolishing it, including that it clashes with year 12 exams, that it leads to sleep deprivation and that farmers have to wake up in the dark during daylight saving time.

North Queensland MP Robbie Katter noted in 2019 that daylight saving time would be a “huge burden on the viability and usability” of residents in his region – as it could mean they would have to work an extra hour in temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

In 1992, Queensland completed a referendum after a three-day process and the result was that 54.5 percent of residents opposed its permanent introduction.

Western Australia has had four referendums and the last in 2009 also produced a negative result, with 54.6 percent of people opposed to moving the clock forward.

What is the impact on health and sleep?

Professor Sean Cain, president of the Australasian Chronobiology Society, is researching how circadian rhythms are affected by changes such as the annual time change and believes this is not beneficial to people’s health.

“We have evolved over millions of years to get used to very bright days and very dark nights,” he said.

‘So our bodies expect these bright days and dark nights – that’s how we function best.’

Professor Cain is against daylight saving time because it has a negative impact on people – leaving Australians feeling like they are jet-lagged.

The professor said the worst part about daylight saving time is when the times are switched, because it happens in one day and people are expected to adjust on the fly.

“It’s quite disruptive and leads to more accidents, trips to the emergency room for heart attacks, things like that,” he said.

Research shows that people who live in a place where daylight saving time does not apply every year live longer, get sick less and are more productive.