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October 2025: DST starts in Australia

Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts in Australia on Sunday, October 5, 2025, giving people in parts of the country brighter evenings.

Map illustration of Australia and New Zealand showing the different time zones, each marked in a separate color.
The orange-striped areas in Australia will start DST on Sunday, October 5, 2025. New Zealand starts DST on September 28.
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On October 5, 2025, clocks in four states and one mainland territory of Australia will move forward 1 hour, from 02:00 (2:00 am) local standard time to 03:00 (3:00 am), local summer time.

Australia clock change in detail

Australia’s Clock Changes

Clocks will be set 1 hour forward in:

Clocks are also set forward 1 hour in Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia. On Lord Howe Island, which observes a rare half-hour time zone, clocks are set forward 30 minutes instead of 1 hour on the same date. Lord Howe Island is an external territory of New South Wales.

Australia’s time zones

No DST in Parts of Australia

Northern and western parts of Australia do not use DST, so the clocks will not change in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.

The same is the case in the Australian dependencies Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Dealing with Daylight Saving Time Chaos

DST confusion is a thing all over the world.

New Zealand Clock Change

All of New Zealand observes DST changes, including Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington, beginning one week earlier than in Australia.

On September 28, 2025, clocks in New Zealand will be moved forward 1 hour from 02:00 (2:00 am) local standard time to 03:00 (3:00 am) local summer time.

New Zealand clock change in detail

The Chatham Islands, in New Zealand’s second time zone, are 45 minutes ahead of the two main islands, so clocks there are turned forward from 02:45 (2:45 am) to 03:45 (3:45 am) local time.

The New Zealand non-self-governing territory of Tokelau does not use DST.

No DST in Samoa or American Samoa

Samoa continues to observe year-round standard time after it scrapped DST in 2021. Neighboring American Samoa does not observe clock changes either.

Upcoming DST changes worldwide

When Does DST End Again?

DST in both Australia and New Zealand ends on April 5, 2026, when clocks fall back to standard time.

In Australia, DST runs from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April. New Zealand observes DST from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April.

One hour back or forward?