Western Australia Day 2027

Type of holiday: statutory public holiday, a non-working day.

Western Australia Day falls on the first Monday in June and belongs to Western Australia alone. It is the state's own long weekend, celebrating the origins of the colony rather than any national event, and it has no equivalent public holiday anywhere else in the country on that date.

From Foundation Day to WA Day

The holiday commemorates the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829, when British settlers established what would become Perth and Fremantle on the banks of the Swan River. For most of its history the holiday was known as Foundation Day, a name that referred squarely to that colonial settlement. It was later renamed Western Australia Day to reflect a broader, more inclusive celebration of the state as a whole rather than a single historical founding moment, while keeping the same date on the calendar.

How Western Australians mark it

With early June sitting firmly in the state's cooler, wetter season, the long weekend tends to be spent close to home: family gatherings, local festivals, football finals-season build-up, and short trips to the South West wine region or up to the wildflower country as the season turns. Perth's foreshore and river precincts, so central to the colony's original site, often host community events tied loosely to the day, though for most residents it functions simply as a welcome break in the middle of the year.

Where it's a public holiday

• Western Australia only
• Not observed in any other state or territory

Why only Western Australia has this holiday

Every Australian state traces its own separate colonial founding, and several mark that history with their own state-specific holiday rather than a shared national one. Western Australia Day is the clearest example: it has no counterpart holiday of the same name and origin anywhere else, because no other state shares that particular founding story on that particular date. This is also why the first Monday in June looks like an ordinary working day everywhere else in Australia while Western Australia enjoys a long weekend.

Monday scheduling

Because the holiday is defined as the first Monday in June rather than a fixed date, it always falls on a Monday by design and never needs to be shifted or substituted. Western Australians can count on the same three-day weekend pattern every year.

Practical details

Schools, government departments and banks close across the state for the day. Major shopping centres in Perth generally open with holiday trading hours, though some independent retailers close entirely, and it is worth checking individual opening times in regional towns, where hours can vary more than in the capital. Public transport typically runs on a Sunday or holiday schedule.

A date to plan around

Because Western Australia Day is unique to one state, interstate visitors and businesses dealing with Western Australian offices, schools or suppliers should not assume the rest of the country shares the day off — postal deliveries, courier services and interstate calls to WA-based colleagues will all be affected while the rest of Australia carries on as usual.