Leave planner: how to hack 2025 public holidays to maximise your time off
Plan your year's breaks now using our leave guide.
According to Seek, most full-time workers get four weeks, or 20 days, of holidays per year.
Almost 70 per cent of Australians agree that taking annual holidays helps them be more productive in the workplace, Seek said.
The job search organisation showed savvy holiday-makers can supercharge their annual leave to get more than twice the time off.
Let's start with Australia Day. In 2025, the public holiday falls on Monday, January 27. Therefore, you can get a four-day break by taking an annual leave day on Friday, January 24.
Next up is the Easter and ANZAC Day period. Seek crunched the dates and showed you can get a hefty ten-day break - April 18 to April 27 - by taking three days off in April.
You already have the public holidays on Friday, April 18 (Good Friday), Monday, April 21 (Easter Monday) and Friday, April 25 (ANZAC Day), plus two weekends, so you just need to take three annual leave days - Tuesday, April 22 to Thursday, April 24.
During the King's Birthday holiday on Monday, June 9 (this is held on different dates in Queensland and Western Australia), you can get a four-day break by taking off Friday, June 6.
During Christmas 2025-2026, you can take a 16-day break by taking just seven days of annual leave - Monday, December 22 to Wednesday, December 24; Monday, December 29 to Wednesday, December 31, and Friday, January 2.
Corporate Traveller's global managing director, Tom Walley, said 2025 offers better holiday opportunities than 2024, based on where the public holidays fall.
He said with thoughtful planning, these holidays can provide substantial benefits for travellers and businesses.
According to Mr Walley, by strategically leveraging these days in conjunction with annual leave, employees can spend more time away from the office or site, "without businesses feeling that they've lost their employees in the workplace for that length of time."
"Given Australia is the global leader in leisure travel, the placement of public holidays in 2025 can also help businesses to encourage this practice, enabling Australians to tack leisure breaks onto their work trips, and ultimately planning for international trips more effectively," Mr Walley said.
"Additionally, the rise in direct flights to key destinations like New Zealand, Bali, and Japan enhances travel accessibility."
My all-time favourite destination is ... Cornwall. From the giant seagulls to the blustery beaches, Cornish pasties and fishing villages, it stirs something romantic and seafaring in me.
Next on my bucket list is … Mongolia. I want to go somewhere really unique that feels totally foreign and challenges my way of life.
My top travel tip is … Don’t plan too much. Walk the streets and let it happen. And make sure you check out what’s within a few blocks of your hotel - sometimes the best local food is found that way.
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