The Government is delivering on its election commitment to make Christmas Day a public holiday every year, meaning employees who work on Christmas will be entitled to penalty rates no matter what day of the week it falls on.
Currently, when Christmas Day falls on a Saturday, the public holiday moves to the following Monday instead. This means some workers do not receive public holiday rates when rostered to work away from their families and loved ones on Christmas.
Under the proposed legislation, Christmas Day will be treated as a public holiday regardless of whether it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. This is consistent with every other State and Territory in Australia.
The legislation will also bring South Australia into line with every other mainland state by making Easter Sunday a declared public holiday. Most stores are currently not permitted to open on Easter Sunday, even though it is not a public holiday.
The legislation will significantly modernise and simplify public holiday laws, reducing confusion and improving consistency with other states and territories. This will reduce disruption to business and improve tourism opportunities..
Overall, the proposed changes will see the number of full-day public holidays in SA increase from 11 to 12 each year. This is in line with QLD and less than the 13 public holidays per year in VIC, ACT and the NT.
The proposed changes will result in an average of 1.1 additional public holidays per year over the next 10 years. The only change in the 2024 calendar year would be the addition of the Easter Sunday public holiday.
This legislation does not regulate shop trading hours or the penalty rates workers are entitled to receive for working on public holidays. These are dealt with under separate pieces of legislation which do not form part of these reforms.
As put by Kyam Maher
The former Liberal Government delivered a lump of coal to South Australian workers for Christmas, by refusing to close loopholes which stopped workers being paid proper penalty rates when rostered to work away from friends and family on Christmas Day.
This Labor Government is committed to fulfilling its election commitments and protecting the rights of South Australian workers.
Our legislation will ensure we avoid the unfair situation experienced under the former Liberal government when many workers did not receive penalty rates for working on Christmas Day in 2021.
These changes will bring our public holidays into line with a majority of other jurisdictions across Australia.
