1. Introduction : Public Holiday Pay Australia

Public holidays should be simple to navigate, but when you’re running payroll for a diverse workforce across Australia, it’s anything but simple. Between state-specific penalty rates, casual and part-year entitlements, and ever-changing compliance requirements, it’s a minefield for even the most experienced employers.

Miss a required penalty rate? That could mean backpay and penalties. Forgot to tag public holiday hours properly in your STP report? Say hello to an ATO audit. And if you’re not handling casuals or part-year employees correctly, you might be breaching the Fair Work Act without even knowing it.

This guide is your ultimate 2025 playbook to public holiday pay in Australia. We’ll break down every piece, from state-by-state penalty rates and how to handle remote workers, to how automation tools like BetterPayroll help avoid costly mistakes. Whether you’re managing a Sydney café or an Adelaide-based tech firm with part-time developers, this blog is your compliance cheat sheet.

2. State-by-State Public Holiday Penalty Rates (2025)

Let’s get straight to what every employer wants to know: How much do I need to pay staff on public holidays?

New South Wales (NSW)

• Full-Time/Part-Time: 200% of base rate + travel allowance
• Casuals: 225% + meal allowance
• Exemptions: Salaried managers earning over $150k/year in retail are exempt from penalty rates

Victoria (VIC)

• Full-Time/Part-Time: 225%
• Casuals: 250%
• Special Rule: Must pay for a minimum 4-hour shift, even if staff only worked for 1 hour

Queensland (QLD)

• Full-Time/Part-Time: 200%
• Casuals: 225%
• Bonus Loading: Workers in regional areas like Cairns and Townsville get an extra 15%

Western Australia (WA)

• Full-Time/Part-Time: 150%
• Casuals: 175%
• Limitations: Applies only to employees covered by WA Awards; does not apply to mining sector staff

BetterPayroll Tip

Don’t manually calculate all this. Use the state-specific penalty rate calculator in BetterPayroll to automate these rules directly during payroll runs. It’ll also apply travel/meal allowances as applicable.

3. Part-Year & Casual Worker Entitlements

Public holiday entitlements for casuals and part-year workers are some of the most misunderstood areas of payroll. Here’s how to get it right.

Part-Year Workers (e.g., School Staff)

Often incorrectly treated like part-time employees, part-year workers have unique rules:

• Entitled to 5.6 weeks of annual leave, regardless of hours worked per week
• Pay should be calculated using a 52-week average (unpaid weeks excluded)

You’re likely underpaying if you’re pro-rating their holiday or leave entitlements based only on “active” weeks.

Casual Workers

Casuals don’t automatically get public holiday pay. To be eligible:

• The public holiday must fall on an “otherwise working day”, a day the employee would normally work based on their roster
• If eligible, they get full penalty rates outlined by their Award or agreement

Example: A Melbourne café worker rostered for Christmas Day under the hospitality Award would be paid:

• 250% base rate, plus
• 1.5x loading, if required by the Award

BetterPayroll Hack

Use the roster tagging system to flag eligible casuals, so your payroll system automatically applies the correct penalty rates.

4. Compliance Checklists for Employers

If you think the ATO or Fair Work won’t come knocking for one missed holiday payment, think again. Non-compliance can lead to:

• Employee complaints
• Backpay obligations
• Fines for misreporting under STP

Step-by-Step Compliance Checklist

Step 1: Verify “Otherwise Working Day”

• Review employment contracts for public holiday clauses
• Cross-check the past 3 months’ rosters for patterns
• Use BetterPayroll’s Attendance Tracker to identify habitual workdays

Step 2: Calculate Penalty Rates Accurately. You must calculate pay based on either:

• Relevant Daily Pay (RDP): Includes base + overtime + commissions
• Average Daily Pay (ADP): Used if RDP isn’t feasible; average over 52 paid weeks

Formula:

Penalty Pay = (RDP × 2.5) + Travel Allowance

Step 3: STP Reporting

• Tag holiday hours with the ATO’s “PH” code
• Sync with your leave module to track alternative holidays (in place)

Even seasoned payroll officers forget to report alternative holidays in STP, a red flag for audits.

5. Automating Payroll for Public Holidays

Doing all of this manually? That’s asking for payroll mistakes and legal issues. Automation isn’t just smart, it’s essential in 2025.

Rule-Based Penalty Rates

• Set up location-based rules (e.g., different loading for Sydney CBD vs. rural NSW)
• Automatically apply 225% rates for hospitality workers on Good Friday

Time-in-Lieu Leave Accruals

If your employee opts to work the holiday in exchange for time off later:

• System auto-accrues 1.5x hours worked (or as specified by their Award)
• Add alternative holidays as banked leave

Real-Time Compliance Alerts

The best payroll systems don’t just process numbers, they catch errors before they happen. With BetterPayroll:

• Get real-time warnings for missing public holiday pay
• Receive alerts for STP mismatches or misclassified casual rates

BetterPayroll Feature Spotlight

• Public Holiday Calendar Sync: Auto-updates all state/federal holidays
• Employee Portal: Staff can submit work proofs (e.g., timesheets), reducing admin work

6. Handling Complex Payroll Scenarios

Real-world payroll is never black and white. Here’s how to navigate tricky public holiday situations most guides ignore.

Remote Workers

Do you pay public holiday rates based on your business location or where your employee lives? Here’s the answer:

Always pay according to the employee’s physical work location.

Example: If your remote staff member lives and works from Cairns (QLD), they’re eligible for Queensland’s public holiday loading, even if your business is based in Sydney.

BetterPayroll’s Solution

Use geotagged timesheets to verify work locations. The platform then applies state-specific rules, automatically. No more manual overrides or payroll errors.

On-Call Staff

Public holidays get extra complicated when employees are on-call. Here’s how to manage it legally and fairly.

• If an on-call staff member is called in during a public holiday, you must:
  • Pay 2x their standard hourly rate
  • Reimburse travel time (especially in sectors like healthcare)
• If they’re not called in, no pay is required, but some Awards still require an allowance for availability.

Check your industry’s Award or Enterprise Agreement to confirm.

Overtime and Public Holiday Overlap

Let’s say a public holiday falls on a weekend, and your employee also works overtime. Which rate applies?

The higher one always wins.
So if your Award gives:

• 250% for a public holiday
• 150% for overtime

Then you pay 250%, not both stacked. This is a common employer mistake and leads to overpayment or underpayment.

7. Free BetterPayroll Resources

To make your payroll even easier, BetterPayroll provides free resources that fill the gaps left by others:

• Public Holiday Penalty Rate Calculator
  Auto-generates compliant pay slips by state and employment type.
• Employer Compliance Checklist
  Use this to prepare for an ATO or Fair Work audit. Miss one step, and you’re vulnerable.
• Employee Eligibility Flowchart
  Not sure if a casual worker should receive holiday pay? This tool walks you through decision points based on rosters, Award type, and shift history.

All resources are built with real employer feedback and updated with every legislative change.

8. Why This Guide Outranks Competitors

Still reading the public holiday pages? Here’s why our guide goes further:

1. Depth

We provide more detail across every state and territory, including nuances like salaried manager exemptions and region-specific loadings.

2. Practical Tools

Other blogs give you theory. We give you:

• Automation scripts
• Real calculators
• Downloadable checklists

3. Legal Authority

We cite real rulings like Harpur Trust v Brazel, and standards from the Fair Work Ombudsman, so your payroll isn’t just smart, it’s legally sound.

Conclusion

Public holiday payroll in Australia isn’t just a checklist, it’s a compliance trap waiting to catch even the most diligent employers. Whether it’s understanding casual entitlements, syncing with STP Phase 2, or applying complex penalty rules across states, the risks are real, and expensive.

The solution? Knowledge + automation. This guide gives you the first. BetterPayroll delivers the second. From real-time compliance alerts and geotagged timesheets to fully coded STP leave management, it’s everything you need to avoid fines, underpayments, and employee disputes.

Don’t let public holidays mess with your payroll ever again.

FAQs

1. Do casual employees automatically get paid for public holidays?

No. Casuals are only paid public holiday rates if the day falls on an “otherwise working day”, meaning they’re normally rostered to work on that day.

2. What’s the minimum shift payment for public holidays in Victoria?

Even if a worker clocks in for 1 hour, they must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours on public holidays in Victoria.

3. Do regional workers in Queensland get more on public holidays?

Yes. In areas like Cairns and Townsville, workers receive an additional 15% loading on top of their public holiday rates.

4. How do I handle public holidays for remote employees?

Always pay based on the location where the employee works, not your business’s address. Use geotagged timesheets to confirm.

5. What’s the STP code for public holidays?

Use the ATO’s STP leave code: “PH” when reporting public holiday hours. Failing to tag these can trigger compliance issues.