New Year’s Day is the first day of the calendar year and is celebrated on 1 January each year. The day is marked by a public holiday in Australia.

Note: South Australia and Northern Territory have a part-day public holiday for New Year’s Eve from 7 pm to 12 midnight.

The public holiday for New Year’s Day is movable, meaning that if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then the following Monday becomes the public holiday. In most states of Australia, most shops are closed and public transport is reduced significantly.

Although the day of 31 December (New Year’s Eve) is not a public holiday, it is the day most Australians prepare for one of the biggest parties of the year. Each capital city, most towns and many homes put on celebrations to mark the end of one year and the first moments of the next.

In many places, fireworks at midnight on New Year’s Eve usher in the New Year. People sing, cheer, toast drinks and party into the small hours of the first day of the year. On New Year’s Day many towns and cities run events, though often people are either recovering from the night before, or beginning their “New Year’s Resolutions”.

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