Pharmacy hours on Australian public holidays: what opens and when

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) co-payment does not change on a public holiday. It is a maximum set by the federal government, so it is the same on Christmas Day as on any other day (PBS co-payments, health.gov.au), although the PBS fee notes allow a pharmacy to add an after-hours fee on top, so it is worth asking first. The bigger change is access, and that is governed by state trading law and by each pharmacy's own decision.

Public holiday dates: Fair Work Ombudsman 2026 list. The trading patterns are general guidance, not a survey of pharmacy hours. Each pharmacy sets its own holiday hours, so it is worth calling ahead.

How public holiday trading works for pharmacies

Public holiday trading is set by state and territory law, not federal law, so the rules differ by jurisdiction. Three patterns cover most days.

The major holidays, Christmas Day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, close most non-essential retail across the country. Some metro pharmacies keep reduced hours, but the bulk of the network is shut.

The standard holidays, New Year's Day, Australia Day, the King's Birthday and Boxing Day, produce mixed trading. Many pharmacies open on half-day or reduced hours, some close, and most large shopping-centre pharmacies stay open.

The single-state holidays affect one jurisdiction at a time, which is easy to overlook when the holiday does not fall in your own state. Because each pharmacy sets its own hours for the day, two pharmacies on the same street can keep different holiday hours.

Christmas Day and Good Friday: the near-total closures

Christmas Day is the closest Australia has to a national pharmacy shutdown, and Good Friday runs a close second. Almost every community pharmacy closes on both days.

A few exceptions hold. A small number of pharmacies open on reduced hours, mostly in the larger cities. These are often 24-hour pharmacies or pharmacies inside major shopping centres or near hospitals. Regional and remote pharmacies almost all close.

Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day: reduced hours

These three are the middle ground. Most large-centre pharmacies open on reduced hours, commonly 9am to 5pm or 10am to 6pm, and much of the inner-city late-trading network returns to normal. Suburban independents vary, with some opening on shorter hours and others closing for the day. Regional pharmacies vary the most.

Easter across the long weekend

Easter spreads across four days, and each one trades differently. Good Friday is a near-total closure, as above. Easter Saturday runs as a normal Saturday for most pharmacies. Easter Sunday closes more of the network than an ordinary Sunday, though the major shopping centres usually keep one pharmacy open. Easter Monday is a public holiday in every state and territory, and most pharmacies treat it like a Sunday.

Anzac Day mornings

Anzac Day, 25 April, is the exception to the usual pattern. Several states restrict shop trading on Anzac Day, with the dawn commemorations in mind, and the rules differ by state. In Victoria, for example, shops that are not exempt cannot open before 1pm, but chemists are exempt (Operating on a restricted trading day, Business Victoria), so pharmacies are allowed to open in the morning, and some do. Many open later, around midday, out of respect. In New South Wales, a 2024 change to the law means shops that are not exempt cannot open at any time on Anzac Day, but chemists are among the businesses listed as exempt and able to trade (Anzac Day and Easter trading rules, NSW Small Business Commissioner).

State and territory holidays

These holidays each fall in one state or territory. The main ones for 2026 (Fair Work Ombudsman):

• Labour Day is a holiday in every state, but on different dates: 2 March in Western Australia, 9 March in Victoria, 4 May in Queensland, and 5 October in New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Tasmania and the Northern Territory hold their equivalents (Eight Hours Day and May Day) on other dates. Most pharmacies open on reduced hours.
• AFL Grand Final eve is a Victorian public holiday, on the Friday before the Grand Final, which is Friday 25 September in 2026. Many metro Melbourne pharmacies open on reduced hours, so it is worth checking before you go.
• Picnic Day in the Northern Territory falls on the first Monday in August, the 3rd in 2026. Darwin and Alice Springs pharmacies mostly trade on reduced hours.
• The Royal Queensland Show, the Brisbane "Ekka" holiday, falls on 12 August in 2026 and affects the Brisbane area only. Most pharmacies trade normally.

The public holidays still to come in 2026, from 22 September to the end of the year, are listed below with the places where each one applies.

Regional show days, race days and bank holidays produce local closures too, usually reduced hours rather than a full close.

Before the long weekend

Regular scripts are best filled before the break

A day or two before a public holiday, it is worth collecting any regular medicine you will need over the break, so a closure or shorter hours do not leave you without it. For an ongoing condition, filling the repeat a few days early means you avoid the holiday rush.

How to check a pharmacy's holiday hours

Because a listing shows each pharmacy's regular hours, and no directory automatically models a public holiday, two steps are reliable. The open-now view is a useful starting point, since it checks each pharmacy's registered hours against the current time and shows which are open. On a public holiday, though, those registered hours may not reflect the day, so a phone call to the pharmacy is the surest confirmation, particularly at independent pharmacies where the owner sets the day's hours at short notice.

What can you do if no pharmacy is open?

If nothing nearby is trading, you have four practical options.

Healthdirect on 1800 022 222. A registered nurse answers at any hour (Contact us, healthdirect). They can tell you whether the situation can wait, and whether continued dispensing might apply, where a pharmacist supplies a further standard quantity of an eligible regular PBS medicine without a new prescription. This is available once in a 12-month period, and only when your prescriber cannot be reached (Continued dispensing, PBS).

An after-hours home doctor service. This can send a general practitioner (GP) to your home across many metro postcodes, including on public holidays. The visits are often bulk billed for eligible patients, which means the visit is billed directly to Medicare at no cost to you, though it is worth confirming the cost when you book (Bulk billing, Services Australia).

A hospital emergency department. Healthdirect advises that for a medical emergency, including chest pain, breathing difficulty, a severe injury, or a mental-health crisis, you should call 000 or go straight to the nearest emergency department. Hospital pharmacies dispense for their own patients, not the general public.

Same-day delivery from a pharmacy that is open. If a pharmacy a suburb or two over is trading and offers delivery, you may be able to get medication to your door without leaving home. See our pharmacy delivery guide for cut-off times and coverage.

Only you and a health professional can judge your own situation. In an emergency, call 000.