Lexi Webster
Ireland and Australia are two countries with different daylight patterns. Ireland uses Irish Standard Time (IST) in the summer and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the winter. On the other hand, Australia has some places that follow daylight saving time and some that do not. Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Christmas Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands do not observe daylight saving time. The time zone and daylight saving practices of a country impact the duration of daylight it experiences.
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What You'll Learn
Ireland's daylight saving time
Ireland has observed Daylight Saving Time (DST) for 107 years between 1916 and 2025. The clocks in Ireland change at the same time as the rest of the EU, with clocks going forward one hour in spring and back one hour in winter. This means that sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier the day after the clocks go back in October.
The transition to and from DST is synchronised across Europe, and Ireland's time is the same as that in Portugal and the United Kingdom. Ireland first adopted DST in 1916, after the Easter Rising, when the time difference between Ireland and Britain was found to be inconvenient for telegraphic communication. The Time (Ireland) Act 1916 ensured that Irish time would be the same as British time from 2:00 am Dublin Mean Time on Sunday, 1 October 1916.
In 2019, the Irish Minister for Justice and Equality announced that Ireland would oppose the end of seasonal clock changes, despite support for ending DST. A representative opinion poll revealed that 82% of the public did not want different time zones between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This issue is further complicated by the UK's departure from the EU, as Northern Ireland may have a one-hour time difference with either the rest of Ireland or the UK for half the year if the UK ends DST.
In Dublin, the sun shines for around 5:48 hours a day in June, while the day itself is 17:03 hours long. This means that visual obstruction due to cloud cover or other factors is around 11:15 hours per day. In December, the sun shines for 5:55 of the 7:37-hour day.
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Australia's daylight saving time
Australia's decision to observe daylight saving time (DST) is made at the state and territory level. Currently, DST is observed in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria. Other Australian jurisdictions, including Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Australia's other external territories, do not observe DST.
The inconsistent adoption of DST in Australia has led to the mainland's three standard time zones increasing to five time zones during the summer. South Australia time diverges from Northern Territory time to become UTC+10:30, known as Central Daylight Time (CDT) or Australia Central Daylight Time (ACDT). Meanwhile, the time in the southeastern states diverges from Queensland time to become UTC+11:00, known as Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) or Australia Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).
The change to and from DST in Australia occurs at 02:00 local standard time, which becomes 03:00 DST. In the states that observe DST, it typically starts on the last Sunday in October and ends on the last Sunday in March. However, Tasmania starts DST earlier, on the first Sunday in October, due to its southern latitude, and ends on the last Sunday in March. In recent years, the southeastern states have also started DST on the first Sunday in October and finished on the first Sunday in April.
The history of DST in Australia has been marked by debates and trials in various states. Queensland abandoned DST in 1972 and, aside from a trial from 1989 to 1992, has not adopted it since. Western Australia conducted a DST trial from 2006 to 2009, but it was not continued due to unpopularity. The Northern Territory has not used DST since 1944. Despite referendums and community consultations, Queensland has consistently opposed the introduction of DST.
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Ireland's standard time
On August 7, 2025, the sun rose in Dublin, Ireland at 5:51 am and set at 9:08 pm. In June, the sun shines for around 5:48 hours a day in the Dublin and Leinster regions, while the day itself is 17:03 hours long. This means that the visual obstruction due to cloud cover or other factors is around 11:15 hours per day. In December, the sun shines for 5:55 of a possible 7:37 hours.
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Australia's standard time
Australia has a complex set of time zones, with three mainland time zones and six time zones in total when including its external territories. Time in Australia is regulated by individual state governments, and some states observe daylight saving time (DST).
The three mainland time zones are:
- Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST); UTC+10:00
- Australian Central Standard Time (ACST); UTC+09:30
- Australian Western Standard Time (AWST); UTC+08:00
The Eastern Time Zone includes Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Jervis Bay Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. The Central Time Zone includes South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Broken Hill in western New South Wales. The Western Time Zone includes Western Australia.
Daylight Saving Time is used in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Jervis Bay Territory. During DST, these areas advance their clocks by one hour.
Australia standardised its civil time in 1895. Prior to this, each location in the country observed its own solar time. The switch to standard time zones was inspired by Sandford Fleming's Canadian system of uniform time zones. Queensland Postmaster-General W. H. Wilson proposed dividing Australia into three one-hourly time zones, which was enacted in 1893.
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Time zones
The world is divided into 360 degrees of longitude, and each time zone typically covers 15 degrees, which is equivalent to an hour. However, some countries operate on 30-minute or 45-minute offsets, such as Afghanistan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. This means that instead of adjusting just the hour hand on your watch when travelling to a new time zone, you may also need to adjust the minute hand.
Ireland and Australia are in different time zones. Ireland operates on Irish Standard Time (IST), which is UTC+01:00, during the summer months, and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is UTC+00:00, during the winter period. Australia, on the other hand, has multiple time zones. The majority of the country follows UTC+10:00, but some areas, such as Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Christmas Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, do not observe daylight saving time and remain on UTC+09:00 or UTC+08:00 all year.
The transition to and from daylight saving time is synchronised across Europe, including Ireland. Winter time in Ireland begins at 02:00 IST on the last Sunday in October, changing the clocks to 01:00 GMT, and ends at 01:00 GMT on the last Sunday in March, changing back to 02:00 IST. Australia's daylight saving schedule varies depending on the region, with some areas not observing it at all.
Daylight saving time, also known as summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks by one hour during the spring and summer months, so that daylight ends at a later time of day. As of 2025, it is observed in most of Europe, much of North America, parts of Africa and Asia in the Northern Hemisphere, and in portions of South America and Oceania in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Frequently asked questions
This depends on the time of year and the specific location in each country. Both countries observe Daylight Saving Time (DST), but not uniformly across all regions. Ireland has the same time as the UK and Portugal, which is one hour behind Central European Time. In Australia, there are five different time zones, and the observation of DST varies across these zones.
Not necessarily. The length of daylight hours depends on the season and the latitude of the country. Ireland, being at a higher latitude, experiences more significant differences in seasonal sunrise and sunset times. During the summer solstice, Ireland can have daylight until as late as 10 pm, while in the winter solstice, darkness may set in as early as 4 pm. Closer to the equator, such as on the equator itself or in Australia, the seasonal changes in sunrise and sunset times are less pronounced.
Yes, Australia generally experiences more daylight throughout the year compared to Ireland due to its location in the Southern Hemisphere and its proximity to the equator. During the summer months in Australia, the days are longer, and the sun sets later. In contrast, Ireland, being in the Northern Hemisphere, has shorter days during its winter season, which coincides with Australia's summer.
