Regional Show Days: The Hidden Public Holidays That Catch Employers Off Guard
Your Brisbane office is closed for the Ekka. Your Melbourne office is open. Your Townsville team has a different day off entirely.
Regional show days are legitimate public holidays with the same legal status as Christmas or Anzac Day. But they're easy to miss. Employers miscounting working day deadlines, payroll systems forgetting to add regional show days to leave calculations, and national contract teams not realising their deadline crosses a local holiday they've never heard of—this happens constantly.
What Are Regional Show Days?
Agricultural shows have been part of Australian life for over 150 years. They're community events, typically featuring livestock competitions, craft exhibitions, carnival rides, and local commerce.
Many regions have a gazetted public holiday tied to their local show. These are real public holidays. They appear in state legislation. Under the NES, employers can request work and employees can refuse on reasonable grounds, and entitlements depend on ordinary hours plus the relevant award or enterprise agreement. Deadlines are typically extended across show days just like they are across Christmas.
But here's the catch: they only apply to specific geographic areas. A regional show day for Townsville doesn't apply to Brisbane. A show day for Geelong doesn't apply to Melbourne.
This creates a patchwork. For national employers, it means tracking dozens of local holidays across multiple states and regions.
Queensland – The Most Extensive Show Day System
Queensland has the most extensive regional show day system in Australia. Brisbane gets the big one: the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka), held in August.
But the Ekka only applies to Brisbane and selected surrounding areas. Travel north or south, and you enter a different region with a different show day:
- Townsville – Townsville Show (August, typically)
- Cairns – Cairns Show (varies, often July/August)
- Rockhampton – Rockhampton Show (typically July)
Each of these is a legitimate public holiday for that region. If you're in Townsville and the Ekka falls on your working day schedule, it doesn't matter—you're not in Brisbane, so you get Townsville Show instead.
Queensland employers often miss this. A contract deadline calculated for Brisbane might not account for a regional office's show day, or vice versa.
Victoria's Patchwork
Victoria is almost as complicated as Queensland, but in a different way.
Metropolitan Melbourne gets Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday in November). Many non-metro councils substitute a local show day instead:
- Geelong area – Geelong Show Day (fourth Wednesday in November)
- Bendigo region – Bendigo Show Day (second Thursday in November)
- Ballarat region – Ballarat Show Day (fourth Thursday in November)
- Shepparton area – Shepparton Show Day (second Wednesday in November)
- Horsham region – Horsham Show Day (third Wednesday in November)
- Gippsland – Various local show days depending on sub-region
The boundaries are defined by "locality" in Victoria's legislation, and they're not always obvious. If your office straddles a boundary, you need to know which locality it falls within for legal purposes.
National employers with multiple Victorian offices need multiple calendars.
Other States
Northern Territory has multiple gazetted show days:
- Darwin Show Day
- Alice Springs Show Day
- Tennant Creek Show Day
- Katherine Show Day
- Borroloola Show Day
Each applies to its respective region. NT employers need to track which show day applies to each location.
Tasmania doesn't have traditional show days but uses Royal Hobart Regatta (second Monday in February, southern Tasmania only) as a regional holiday with similar effect. Recreation Day operates in northern Tasmania (first Monday in November).
New South Wales has gazetted local public holidays for some regional shows (such as Walcha Cup, Kangaroo Valley Show, Albury Gold Cup, and Coonamble Show), but these are not yet included in our calculator. NSW also has "Local Event Days" which are community recognition days but are NOT public holidays for employment purposes.
South Australia and Western Australia do not have regional show day public holidays. SA observes Adelaide Cup Day (second Monday in March) as a statewide holiday for metropolitan Adelaide, not a regional show day. WA has no show day public holidays (though a statewide Show Day is proposed for 2028).
The Compliance Challenge
Here's why this matters:
For payroll: If an employee works in Townsville and takes annual leave that crosses the Townsville Show, does the show day count as a paid public holiday or does it reduce the annual leave used? Your payroll system needs to know the show day applies to that location.
For deadlines: A contract says "due within 10 working days." Your team calculates this for Brisbane. But if the counterparty is in Cairns, and Cairns Show falls within that period, you've miscalculated the deadline.
For notice periods: If an employer gives an employee 2 weeks' notice in a regional Queensland location during a month when the local show day falls, does that show day count as a non-working day for the notice period? It should.
For leave calculations: Annual leave entitlements sometimes include "additional day" provisions in lieu of certain public holidays. Which show day counts? The one where the employee works, not where the employer is headquartered.
National employers get this wrong frequently. "I didn't know it was a public holiday" is not a legal defence. If the employee works in that region, the regional show day applies.
Three Traps We See in the Wild
- Payroll treats a show day as annual leave because it isn't in the default calendar.
- Contract teams use HQ's calendar for a regional site, shifting deadlines by a day.
- Remote worker ambiguity where no one is sure which locality applies.
How to Find Your Local Show Day
State government gazettes publish the dates each year. These are the official sources:
- Queensland Government – Search for annual public holiday notices
- Victorian Government – Business Victoria publishes the annual calendar
- NT Government – Annual public holiday notices
- Tasmania Government – Published annually
- NSW Government – Local public holidays (nsw.gov.au/about-nsw/public-holidays/local-public-holidays)
Fair Work Ombudsman has state-by-state lists, though they may not include all regional show days. Use them as a starting point, then check the official gazette to be sure.
Our calculator includes regional show days for Queensland, Victoria, Northern Territory, and Tasmania. Select your specific location (state + region), and we'll show you exactly which holidays apply and which deadlines change. NSW regional show days are not yet included in the calculator—check the NSW Government website for local public holidays in your area.
FAQ
Q: Are regional show days optional or mandatory public holidays? A: They are declared public holidays for the defined locality. Employers can request work and employees can refuse on reasonable grounds, and pay/entitlements depend on ordinary hours and the relevant award or enterprise agreement.
Q: What if my business operates across multiple regions? A: You need to track the show day for each location where staff work. A payroll system needs multiple calendars. Contract deadlines need to account for different show days depending on where performance occurs.
Q: Can I choose to observe a different show day? A: No. The show day is determined by where the employee performs work. If you have a Townsville office, your staff get Townsville Show Day, not a different regional holiday.
Q: How do I know if my office is in a show day region? A: Check your state's gazette and the Business Victoria website (for Victoria), or contact the relevant state government. You need to know the exact locality where your office is defined.
Q: Do part-time or casual employees get paid for show days? A: It depends on their ordinary hours and their award or enterprise agreement. Public holiday entitlements are not one-size-fits-all, so check the relevant instrument.
Sources
- Queensland Government – Public Holidays
- Business Victoria – Public Holidays and Show Days
- NT Government – Public Holidays
- Tasmania Government – Public Holidays
- NSW Government – Local Public Holidays (nsw.gov.au/about-nsw/public-holidays/local-public-holidays)
- Fair Work Ombudsman – Regional Show Days
- State Government Gazettes – Annual public holiday notices