The idea of day light saving time (DST) is to allow people to take advantage of more daylight hours and sunlight by adjusting clocks forward near the start of spring and moving them back in autumn. Daylight savings time change is used more in the northern hemisphere than the southern hemisphere.
Originally intended to reduce electricity consumption in the evening, it is uncertain whether the daylight saving change still meets this purpose. Activities that can exploit the extra daylight hours after working such as sports and retailing clearly benefit. However activities such as agriculture that are tied to the sun find it problematic which is why some Australian states have chosen not to adopt daylight saving time.
Which Australian States Have Daylight Savings?
Since 2008 daylight saving time has been aligned in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania so that they all start on the first Sunday in October and end on the first Sunday in April. Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory do not observe DST.
Daylight savings in Western Australia have been rejected 4 times in referendums in 1975, 1984, 1992 and 2009. Queensland has experimented with DST in the past but abandoned it following a referendum in 1992. The difference in times is a problem for those living in the south-east of Queensland close to the NSW border. The Northern Territory last used daylight saving time in 1944.
As the implementation of daylight saving time can have some effect on climate observations, the Bureau of Meteorology website has a table of implementation dates of daylight saving time throughout Australia since it was first used in 1916.
Daylight Savings Time Dates in Australia
Daylight saving time beginning and ending dates in Australia for New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are:
- 2009/10 – 4 October 2009 to 4 April 2010
- 2010/11 – 3 October 2010 to 3 April 2011
- 2011/12 – 2 October 2011 to 1 April 2012
- 2012/13 – 7 October 2012 to 7 April 2013
- 2013/14 – 6 October 2013 to 6 April 2014
- 2014/15 – 5 October 2014 to 5 April 2015
- 2015/16 – 4 October 2015 to 3 April 2016
These are quite different dates to daylight savings time in the US and Canada where the changes to clocks are made in March and November.
When to Change Clocks for DST in Australia
In the eastern states, daylight saving for summers begins at 2:00 am, Eastern Standard Time, on the first Sunday in October and ends at 3:00 am Eastern Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday in April. This means that at the start of the daylight savings period clocks should be moved forward one hour at 2:00 am standard time to 3:00 am summer time. At the end of the daylight saving period clock should be moved back one hour at 3:00 am summer time to 2:00 am standard time.
In practice this means that whether you are on Australian Eastern Standard Time or Australian Central Standard Time on the night before the start of daylight savings time, clocks should be set forward one hour before going to bed. This puts the clocks on Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) or Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT) depending on location. On the night before the end of daylight savings time, clocks should be set back one hour to return to standard time.
Related articles:
You may also be interested in Australian Public Holidays for 2010
Jo Jackson - Jo is an Australian writer with an MBA and a B.Sc.(Hons) in botany. She has wanted to write since she first discovered books and currently ...
Join the Conversation