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New Zealand moves its clocks forward on 27 September and Australia on 4 October, but not across the whole country: Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia don't change. If you have an application, an interview or a quota opening coming up, the calculation you had been using stops working.
Working Holiday Australia: the guide →Viajar a Australia →Working Holiday New Zealand: the guide →Viajar a New Zealand →
If you are waiting for an appointment, an interview or a quota opening, this affects you: between the end of September and the start of October the clocks move on both sides of the Pacific, and the time difference with your country changes without anyone telling you.
The key point in one line: after the change, 9 in the morning in Sydney is 7 in the evening of the PREVIOUS DAY in Argentina. That is exactly the mistake that makes people lose appointments: looking at the date over there and writing it down over here.
New Zealand moves forward one hour on Sunday 27 September 2026 at 2 in the morning, which becomes 3. Australia does the same a week later, on Sunday 4 October, also from 2 to 3.
That week of difference has a consequence that confuses everyone: between 27 September and 4 October, New Zealand is 3 hours ahead of Sydney, not 2 as in the rest of the year. If you are coordinating something between the two countries that week, check it twice.
Australian daylight saving time ends on Sunday 4 April 2027 at 3 in the morning; New Zealand's ends the same day.
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island move forward one hour.
Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do NOT change. So Brisbane, Darwin, Cairns and Perth stay as they are: if you are working in northern Queensland doing your 88 days, your clock doesn't move, but Sydney's does.
There are two exceptions that almost nobody mentions and that can ruin a phone call. Lord Howe Island moves forward half an hour, not one. And Broken Hill, which is in New South Wales, uses central Australia's time rather than eastern time: it keeps Adelaide time, half an hour behind the rest of its own state.
After the change, when it is 9 in the morning on a Monday over there, it is still Sunday here: in Sydney and Melbourne it is 7 in the evening on Sunday in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile; in Adelaide, 7:30; in Brisbane, 8 at night; in Perth, 10 at night; and in Auckland, 5 in the afternoon.
In hours of difference: Argentina is 14 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne, 13.5 hours behind Adelaide, 13 behind Brisbane, 11 behind Perth and 16 behind Auckland.
For Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, subtract two more hours from Argentina time; for Mexico, three; and for Spain, add five.
Immigration New Zealand publishes its notices with the time zone written next to the time, and the label changes with daylight saving time: until 27 September it says NZST and afterwards NZDT. From that date on, to convert to Argentina time you have to subtract 16 hours, not 15.
Home Affairs, in Australia, publishes in eastern time (AEST). Its head office is in Canberra, which does observe daylight saving time, so from 4 October its times shift by one hour. One detail: its contact page says it is open from 9 to 17, Monday to Friday, but does not state which time zone; it is best to call with some margin.
If your application has a deadline, don't calculate it from memory: check which abbreviation the notice uses (AEST or AEDT, NZST or NZDT) and convert using that one.
Verified on 21 September 2026. If any of this changes, we will update the article and let you know by email.
The news closest in time, each with its official source.
Abroad, getting sick is more than a bad day. In many destinations public healthcare depends on appointments, queues and availability, and private care is paid upfront. An emergency can cost thousands of USD, right when you are far from home and on a tight budget. That is why I recommend you never leave without travel assistance.
I recommend GO! Assistance because it covers what matters: medical care, emergencies, medication and hospitalization depending on the plan. It protects you 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world, with real-time solutions on the ground. GO! 365 ECO and GO! 365 give you USD 45,000 of global coverage: the first with a USD 100 deductible, the second with none.
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