Many public holidays apply across the country, including Christmas Day, Australia Day and New Year's Day. Others are unique to a particular state or territory, or that vary by date depending on where you are. For Victoria, the next one is the Melbourne Cup public holiday. So yes, this article is for all our Victorian businesses. But I've also included some useful information about public holidays in general for clients in all other states and territories.

This year, the race that stops the nation falls on Tuesday 3 November 2026. It's always on the first Tuesday of November.

Does the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday Apply to Your Business?

Melbourne Cup Day doesn’t fall on the same day for everyone, though. It can vary by council. Non-metropolitan councils can arrange an alternate local holiday instead. That way, they don't have to observe the "Melbourne Cup" on the same day as all the metro city slickers.

This Year's Alternate Days for Vic Regional Areas

• Warrnambool City Council: Thursday 7 May 2026
• Moyne Shire Council: Thursday 7 May 2026
• Mildura Rural City Council: Wednesday 7 October 2026 (west of and including Boinka, and south of Murray Sunset National Park)
• Yarriambiack Shire Council: Thursday 8 October 2026 (half day for Warracknabeal and district, plus half day on Melbourne Cup Day)
• Hindmarsh Shire Council: Tuesday 13 October 2026 (for the localities of Rainbow, Albacutya and Kenmare)
• Hindmarsh Shire Council: Thursday 15 October 2026 (for Broughton, Yanac, Netherby, Lorquon, Nhill, Glenlee, Kiata, Gerang Gerung and Little Desert)
• Greater Geelong City Council: Wednesday 21 October 2026
• Moira Shire Council: Wednesday 21 October 2026 (for the Numurkah District)
• Greater Bendigo City Council: Wednesday 28 October 2026 (for areas west of the Campaspe River)
• Macedon Ranges Shire Council: Wednesday 4 November 2026 (for postcodes 3444, 3446 and 3458, plus Cadello and Carlsruhe)
• Wodonga City Council: Friday 27 November 2026 (Wodonga Gold Cup)

So, if your business is in any of these areas, take note. You won't need to apply public holiday pay and rules on Melbourne Cup Day, you should instead apply these rules to the alternate day. The exception is Yarriambiack Shire Council where public holiday rules will apply for half a day. If the alternate day only covers part of your council, the rest observes Melbourne Cup Day as usual. You can check the full list on the Business Victoria non-metropolitan public holidays page.

The Bit That Applies to All States and Territories

Public holidays are an entitlement under the National Employment Standards. Every permanent employee normally rostered to work on a public holiday has the right to the day off with pay. This means they cannot be forced to work on this day. You can ask them to work it if the request is reasonable, but they can say no if the request isn't reasonable or they have a reasonable reason for refusing.

For example, if the employee works in hospitality it is reasonable for them to expect they may be rostered to work on public holidays and may be unreasonable for them to request the day off given it may be a peak trading period; however, a person who works standard hours in a factory wouldn’t usually expect to be rostered to work on a public holiday, so a request may come as a surprise and they may already have plans and it would be reasonable for them to reject the request.

To help manage this, we recommend getting employees' preference to work or not to work before the roster is published for a week which includes a public holiday. This way you won't be left scrambling to find coverage for those days.

Who Gets Paid What on a Public Holiday

In general, when it comes to public holidays, these are the common scenarios:

• Employee agrees to work the public holiday: you pay them public holiday rates.
• Employee normally works on the public holiday but takes the day off: you pay them their normal base rate.
• Employee doesn't normally work on the public holiday and doesn't work: no pay. This applies even if they have picked up the odd shift here and there on the same day of the week as the public holiday. That's why it's important to set out the days and times you roster a part-time employee to work.
• Casual Employees – gets paid the relevant casual Public Holiday rate if they work, no pay if they don’t work.

Always Check Your Award or Agreement

It is important to note that these general rules may not always be the only options. That's why it is important to always check the award or enterprise agreement for the specific entitlements that may apply. For example, some awards and enterprise agreements can provide for:

• An extra day off (day in lieu) or provide an extra annual leave day when the employee works a public holiday
• An agreement to swap the public holiday for another day, so the public holiday is treated like any other workday*

*A substitute day can also happen when a public holiday falls on the weekend and moves to the following Monday. Australia Day did this last year, which was observed on Monday 27 January 2025 instead of Sunday 26 January 2025. Public holiday rules would usually apply to the "observed" day (unless the award or agreement says otherwise).

More Tips for Managing Public Holidays

• Check the award or agreement for specific public holiday rules that apply to your employees.
• Check the award or enterprise agreement for any minimum shift lengths on a public holiday.
• Check the public holiday rate that applies, as this can vary depending on the award or agreement.
• If you have an employee who is on a salary that is inclusive of penalties, make sure you’re very clear that if they work, they are not entitled to additional pay
• For employees who may work across different states or territories, apply the public holiday that falls where they are usually based for work, not where they are working. For example, a Melbourne-based employee working in Queensland on Melbourne Cup Day would still be entitled to the public holiday benefits.

If you are not sure about the rules that apply to your employees, reach out to us at HR Staff n' Stuff. We'll be happy to help. It's much easier to sort out before the roster goes out than after the pay run.

FAQs about the Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday