Canberra, ACT

Daylight savings 2026: when does daylight saving start in Australia and do clocks go forward or back? Here’s when the time will change

2 Oct 2026 09:20 AEST Summary

From the report

Early on Sunday clocks in the south-eastern states will go forward one hour. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving.

How outlets headlined it

Each outlet's own headline. ~~Struck through~~: the loaded words our version leaves out. Plainest first.

The Guardian Australia Daylight savings 2026: when does daylight saving start in Australia and do clocks go forward or back? Here’s when the time will change plain
SBS News Daylight saving in Australia: When it starts and whether clocks go forward or back plain

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

This is a summary. The indicators are not. Every score on this page was measured over the full 339-word report, which is the only way the numbers mean anything.

How it is written

Niral Score 13.8 · mostly calm mundaneloaded

10 more readings adjectives, repeated words, sentiment, sourcing and 1 more and 5 at zero

Highlighted in the text. Words that carry a fact and quoted words are not counted.

daylight12saving8hour6clocks5forward5clock4working3affect2back2change2eastern2effects2eight2hours2light2means2morning2paid2recommends2savings2sleep2start2terms2you’re2

Sentiment +0.1 hostilefavourable Sourcing 18 unattributednamed sources Mood 54.2 sorrowjoyful

5 read zero: political diction, generational, gender, jingoistic, religious

Political diction 0 left-codedright-coded Generational 0 harder on the oldharder on the young Gender 0 no gendered framingframing throughout Jingoistic 0 reports to a readerwrites from a camp Religious 0 not invokedovert

How the article is written, not whether it is correct. How each is measured.

Measured on The Guardian Australia’s report as filed, which is all we may publish of this one.

How each outlet filed it

Outlet	Niral Score	Adjectives	Sourcing	Sentiment	Happiness
The Guardian Australiaas they published this story	13.8	6	18	0.1	54.2
The Guardian Australia	13.8	6	18	0.1	54.2
The Guardian Australia	13.8	6	18	0.1	54.2
SBS News	11.8	6	35	0.1	50

The Guardian Australia, The Guardian Australia, The Guardian Australia scored identically because they filed the same copy — they share a newsroom. Identical rows here are syndication, not agreement.

How did this read?

Comments

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The same event elsewhere

3 other outlets filed this story. The scoreboard above is what they did differently.

The Guardian Australia Daylight savings 2026: when does daylight saving start in Australia and do clocks go forward or back? Here’s when the time will change Niral 13.8 · mostly calm political 0 The Guardian Australia Daylight savings 2026: when does daylight saving start in Australia and do clocks go forward or back? Here’s when the time will change Niral 13.8 · mostly calm political 0 SBS News Daylight saving in Australia: When it starts and whether clocks go forward or back Niral 11.8 · mostly calm political 0