How to make the most of your annual leave in 2025
What if there was a way to take more holidays without worrying about running out of annual leave? There is!
We’ll show you how to make the most of the Australian public holidays in 2025 so you can get away on some must-do adventures. Whether it’s a relaxing long weekend or the chance to head overseas for a couple of weeks, get these dates in the diary and enjoy our tips for maximising your annual leave.
Australian public holidays 2025
As much as we all love a day off work, unless you’re a super-organised person you might find that public holidays have a habit of taking you by surprise. Rather than enjoying this bonus holiday you’re left regretting your lack of foresight and planning – if only you’d spotted that Easter and Anzac Day were so close together, you could have booked the days off in between and really had a chance to unwind! Let's make 2025 your year for holidays; here are the dates you need to know.
2025 National Public Holidays
- New Year’s Day - January 1
- Australia Day – January 27
- Good Friday - April 18
- Easter Monday - April 21
- Anzac Day - April 25
- King’s birthday – June 9 (except for QLD and WA)
- Labour Day – October 6
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 26
Our top tips for taking time off
Aside from getting in ahead of your workmates to secure your time off and booking early to find the best travel and accommodation deals, here’s what we recommend.
Book an Easter getaway
April is looking like the best month to take a holiday in 2025 with Easter and Anzac Day landing in the same week. With public holidays on Good Friday 18 April, Easter Monday 21 April and Anzac Day Friday 25 April, you could make a 16-day holiday by taking seven days of annual leave on 14 – 17 April and 22 – 24 April.
School holidays include the Easter weekend in most states so this could be the perfect time for a family holiday. If you’re in NSW, WA or SA Anzac Day also falls within the autumn school holidays.
Enjoy a mid-year break
Just when you’re feeling like it’s a long time until the next holiday break, King’s Birthday pops up on 9 June to save you. It’s a Monday so you could just enjoy a long weekend or, best still, book Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 off work and you’ve found yourself a neat nine-day window for a holiday.
If you’re in ACT, NSW or SA, you can do the same again in October with Labour Day on Monday 6. Four days of annual leave from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 magically turns into nine days for some well-earned R&R.
Where to go for longer holidays
So how best to use this time off? With a couple of weeks up your sleeve, an overseas holiday could certainly be on the cards
Our pick for the long Easter break is a family trip to Thailand. It's still the dry season there during April and with the temperatures sitting around 25°C - 30°C, it’s ideal for a beach holiday but not too hot for exploring ancient ruins or the city sights in Bangkok.
Some of our other favourite destinations for longer trips include:
- Singapore – from shopping and eating to futuristic nature parks, there’s so much to see and do in this tiny but mind-blowing island country.
- Japan – how about a ski holiday during the long Christmas break? Whether you’re an adventure enthusiast, a foodie, or keen to immerse yourself in Japanese culture, add this to your holiday wish-list.
- New Zealand – if you’ve been meaning to make the trip across the ditch but never quite made it, now’s your chance to plan your great New Zealand road trip.
Where to go for short breaks
We’re all about maximising your annual leave, so even if you only have a few days off, there are plenty of fun and exciting options for holidays.
Of course, with Bali and the Pacific Islands relatively close to home, you could still make it there for a long weekend or a short week. Book the red-eye flight home and really make the most of your time away.
How about:
- Fiji – we really hope you have a little bit of time to enjoy the white sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters but resorts with kids’ clubs are also a great option if you need to keep the little ones entertained while you get some work done. We call it ‘working from holiday’ -it’s like working from home but better.
- Vanuatu - a direct flight from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to Port Vila, Vanuatu takes around three to four hours. You’ll be relaxing on an idyllic beach or snorkelling a coral reef before you know it.
Don’t forget your travel insurance
You know what they say about even the best-laid plans... Unfortunately, things can still go wrong even when you've been meticulous about planning. Accidents can happen, people can fall sick, and travel plans can change. It can also happen on a holiday at home so think about domestic travel insurance to cover things like damage to a rental car or having to cancel pre-paid accommodation or
activities, as well as a comprehensive policy for international trips.
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