As the mornings get darker and a bit colder, daylight saving time is officially coming to an end this weekend.
The time adjustment is designed to maximise daylight hours in the evening over summer, and, as winter approaches, shift more daylight to the mornings when the clocks move back.
Here's everything you need to know about daylight saving ending this weekend.
When does daylight saving end?
Daylight saving time for 2025 will officially end this Sunday 6 April at 3am AEDT.
Clocks will roll back one hour to 2am, meaning some Australians will gain an extra hour of sleep. Essentially, the hour between 2am and 3am will repeat itself, extending the night by one hour.
Daylight saving time occurs every year from the to the first Sunday in April.
From this Sunday, mornings will be brighter, as the sun will rise earlier due to the clock adjustment.
Why does daylight saving exist?
Daylight saving helps align our daily schedules with natural daylight, giving people more usable sunlight in the evenings during summer while shifting it to the mornings in winter to make early starts brighter and safer.
It's necessary because the tilt of the Earth's axis means the time between sunrise and sunset shifts throughout the year.
Professor Tim Bedding from the School of Physics at the University of Sydney said: "The result is that days are longer in summer than in winter."
"The effect of DST becomes less as you move towards the equator, which is presumably why Queensland decided not to adopt daylight saving."
After daylight saving time ends, Australia effectively loses two of its time zones. Source: SBS News
Which states and territories observe daylight saving?
It's up to individual states and territories to decide if they wish to observe it or not, but those a bit further from the equator have taken up the time zone change.
Daylight saving time is observed in:
- NSW
- Victoria
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- ACT
- Norfolk Island
The following states and territories do not observe daylight savings:
- Queensland
- Western Australia
- Northern Territory
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
"In a large geographically and climatically diverse country, one size does not necessarily fit all," Bedding said, explaining why states and territories closer to the equator typically opt out of daylight saving.
How do the time zones change?
When daylight saving ends, Australia effectively loses two of its five time zones. Here's how it will look from 6 April:
- Queensland, NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania will be in Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
- Northern Territory, South Australia and Broken Hill (NSW) will be in Australian Central Standard Time (ACST), which is half an hour behind AEST.
- Western Australia will remain on Australian Western Standard Time (AWST), which is two hours behind AEST and 1.5 hours behind ACST.
A 2024 survey found overwhelming support for daylight saving across Australia. Source: SBS News
Australians mostly in support
Daylight saving was first introduced in Tasmania in 1916 to conserve energy during World War One. It was later adopted across Australia in 1971, though Queensland abandoned it a year later.
Daylight saving time is designed to give people longer evenings with more sunlight in the summer, while shifting the sunlight to the mornings during the winter, making early starts brighter.
A survey conducted last year found 80 per cent of Australians supported daylight saving, with those living further south and working indoors more likely to be in favour, while those living higher up north and outdoor workers tended to be less supportive.
