Western Australians will get two more public holidays a year from 2028. Parliament has passed the Cook Government's overhaul of the state's holiday calendar, which adds Easter Saturday and a new Show Day and moves three existing holidays to new dates.
The government announced on 21 October 2026 that the Public and Bank Holidays Amendment Bill had cleared Parliament. The Bill was introduced in September 2025 and passed the Legislative Assembly in October 2025, then sat in the Legislative Council for a year. It takes WA from 11 public holidays to 13.
What changes
According to the government's public holiday review, the new calendar works like this:
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- Easter Saturday becomes a public holiday. Monday-to-Friday workers do not get a replacement day off the following week.
- Show Day is a new holiday, set by proclamation for the first Monday of the September/October school holidays. It lines up with the Perth Royal Show.
- Labour Day moves from the first Monday in March to the second. In most state election years it will fall on the third Monday instead, so polling day is not on a long weekend.
- The King's Birthday moves from late September or early October to the second Monday in June, the same as most other states.
- WA Day moves from the first Monday in June to the second Monday in November.
The practical effect is a reshuffle as much as an addition. June keeps a long weekend, but it becomes the King's Birthday. The spring school holidays keep one too, which becomes Show Day. WA Day moves into the warmer weather before Christmas.
Why the government did it
The government says moving Labour Day and the King's Birthday will line WA up with the other states and territories and help productivity. It says moving WA Day lets people celebrate outside winter and gives them a break before the Christmas rush. It also says making Easter Saturday and Show Day official holidays means people who work on those days get paid properly for it.
The government says more than 10,000 submissions came in during a four-week public consultation in July and August 2025.
"With this legislation now passed, Western Australians can look forward to two additional public holidays and a modernised public holiday calendar from 2028." — Roger Cook, Premier
The cost to business
Not everyone is celebrating. Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief economist Daniel Kiely told 6PR Breakfast on Thursday that the two extra holidays could cost local businesses more than $115 million a year.
Most of that cost is penalty rates. Hospitality and retail businesses that trade on Easter Saturday, which is already one of the busiest shopping days of the year, will pay public holiday rates from 2028.
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What happens now
Nothing changes on the calendar until 2028. The government has set a two-year implementation period so employers, payroll systems, schools and agencies can prepare. That means the next two years of holidays, including WA Day in June 2027 and the King's Birthday in September 2027, run on the current dates.
Businesses that set rosters or enterprise agreements around the existing dates will need to update them before the new calendar starts. The government has said it will publish more information as the changes get closer.
The Project put the news to a national audience on Friday evening (post on X). Read the Premier's statement on the WA Government website, and the full list of changes on the public holiday review page.
Photo: Sebastian Davenport-Handley via Wikimedia Commons (CC0). File photo of the Perth Royal Show.
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