Melbourne Cup Day: The Public Holiday That Doesn't Land on the Same Day Everywhere

If you work in Melbourne, the first Tuesday in November is a guaranteed day off. But if your office is in Geelong, Bendigo, or Ballarat? You might have a different day off instead. This assumption—that everyone in Victoria gets Melbourne Cup Day—trips up businesses constantly, and it's costing them deadlines.

The reality is both simpler and more complicated than most people realise. Melbourne Cup Day is the default public holiday across all of Victoria. However, many regional councils choose to substitute their own local show day instead of observing Melbourne Cup Day. For national employers juggling staff across the state, this creates a patchwork of holidays that's easy to get wrong.

The Melbourne Cup Day Rules

Melbourne Cup Day (the first Tuesday in November) is recognised as a public holiday under the Victorian Public Holidays Act 1993 and applies statewide by default. However, here's the complication: regional councils have the option to substitute Melbourne Cup Day with their own local show day.

When a regional council arranges a substitute show day, workers in that locality get their local show day as the public holiday instead of Melbourne Cup Day—not in addition to it. If no substitute has been arranged, Melbourne Cup Day applies as the default public holiday.

Metropolitan Melbourne and many regional areas observe Melbourne Cup Day. Other regions—such as Geelong, Bendigo, and Ballarat—have substituted their own local show days. Each substituted show day is a legal public holiday with exactly the same status as Melbourne Cup Day or Christmas.

For a payroll manager at a company with teams spread across Victoria, this means different days off in different locations. It's a genuine compliance headache.

Regional Show Days Explained

Victoria has dozens of gazetted local show days. The Victorian Government publishes them annually. When a region has a gazetted show day, it replaces Melbourne Cup Day for that locality—workers get one public holiday, not both.

Some examples:

• Geelong Show Day – Fourth Wednesday in November (Geelong area)
• Bendigo Show Day – Second Thursday in November (Bendigo region)
• Ballarat Show Day – Fourth Thursday in November (Ballarat region)
• Shepparton Show Day – Second Wednesday in November (Goulburn Valley area)
• Horsham Show Day – Third Wednesday in November (Horsham region)

The show day applies to the "locality"—and that's where boundaries get fuzzy. The Victorian Government defines these localities, but if your business straddles a boundary, you need to know exactly where your staff are based for legal purposes.

If an employee works in Geelong, they get Geelong Show Day as their public holiday—not Melbourne Cup Day. Same penalty rates, same legislative protections, but a different calendar date.

Other States Have Show Days Too

This isn't unique to Victoria. Australia's regional show days are scattered across several states:

Queensland has the most. Brisbane gets the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) in August. But travel 200km north or south, and you're in a different region with a different show day: Cairns Show, Townsville Show, Rockhampton Show, Toowoomba Show, and dozens more.

South Australia observes Adelaide Cup Day (a Monday in March) for metro Adelaide. Regional South Australia gets local show days instead—Royal Adelaide Show area has its own day, for instance.

Northern Territory has multiple show days: Alice Springs Show, Darwin Show, Tennant Creek Show, and Katherine Show.

Tasmania doesn't have traditional show days but uses Royal Hobart Regatta (February, southern Tasmania only) similarly.

New South Wales and Western Australia have fewer gazetted regional show days, but they still exist in specific localities.

The Working Day Calculation Problem

Here's where it matters for deadlines and contracts.

Imagine you're negotiating a contract with a company headquartered in Melbourne but with a regional office in Bendigo. The contract says "Performance required within 10 working days." You assume Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday in November) is a non-working day. But if the work is performed in Bendigo, Bendigo Show Day applies, not Melbourne Cup Day.

If these dates don't overlap, you've miscalculated your deadline by a day.

Or consider employment notices. An employer in regional Victoria needs to give an employee 2 weeks' notice before termination. If the notice period falls during a week when Melbourne Cup Day occurs in Melbourne but Geelong Show Day occurs in the Geelong office, you've got different timings for different staff in the same organisation.

The safe approach: when calculating working days for any cross-regional scenario, confirm the specific locality and check what gazetted show days apply. Don't assume Melbourne Cup Day applies everywhere in Victoria.

How the Calculator Handles This

The Working Day Calculator lets you specify your precise location within Victoria. Select your region, and we apply the correct public holiday calendar—whether that's Melbourne Cup Day for metropolitan areas or the specific show day for your region.

This ensures your deadline calculations are compliant with the actual legislative requirements for your location.

FAQ

Q: Is Melbourne Cup Day a public holiday in Geelong? A: No. Geelong has substituted Geelong Show Day (typically the fourth Wednesday in November) in place of Melbourne Cup Day. Workers in Geelong get Geelong Show Day off, not Melbourne Cup Day.

Q: Do I get both Melbourne Cup Day and my local show day off? A: No. You get one or the other, depending on your locality. If your region has gazetted a substitute show day, you get that day instead of Melbourne Cup Day. If no substitute exists, you get Melbourne Cup Day.

Q: Where can I find my local show day? A: The Victorian Government publishes the annual public holiday calendar on the Business Victoria website. You can also use the Working Day Calculator to select your specific region and see exactly which holidays apply.

Q: What if I work across multiple Victorian regions? A: Different staff in different regions may have different public holidays. Your payroll and compliance teams need to track the holiday calendar for each location where staff work, not just one centralised calendar.

Sources

• Victorian Government – Public Holidays Act 1993
• Business Victoria – Public Holidays
• Fair Work Ombudsman – Public Holidays
• Victorian Government Gazette – Annual public holiday notices for regional show days