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We don’t believe it either, but it’s true: we’re already well on our way through 2026, which means it’s time to start plotting those 2027 holidays. If maximising your time OOO is high on your priority list, we’ve got some good news: with a little strategic annual leave planning, you can turn 28 days of annual leave into 66 days off in Victoria.
The trick is to make the most of Victoria’s public holidays, from Labour Day and the King’s Birthday to the AFL Grand Final Friday and Melbourne Cup Day. There are also some particularly generous Christmas and Easter configurations in 2027.
Bookmark this cheat sheet, pick your next long-weekend escape and get those leave requests in before your coworkers do.
January: Australia Day
Take one day of annual leave on Monday, January 25 and you’ll get four days off from January 23 to 26.
- January 23-24: Weekend
- January 25: Annual leave
- January 26: Australia Day public holiday
If you want to stretch this one further, you can take January 27-29 off too, giving you nine days off for four days of annual leave, from January 23-31.
March: Labour Day
Victoria’s Labour Day falls on Monday, March 8, making this one of the easiest long weekends to stretch.
Take four days of annual leave from March 9-12 and you’ll get nine days off from March 6-14.
- March 6-7: Weekend
- March 8: Labour Day public holiday
- March 9-12: Annual leave
- March 13-14: Weekend
March-April: Easter
Easter is already a four-day weekend in Victoria, thanks to Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. In 2027, those public holidays fall from March 26-29.
Take four days of annual leave from March 30 to April 2 and you can turn that into ten days off, running from March 26 to April 4.
- March 26: Good Friday
- March 27: Easter Saturday
- March 28: Easter Sunday
- March 29: Easter Monday
- March 30-April 2: Annual leave
- April 3-4: Weekend
June: King’s Birthday
Victoria’s King’s Birthday public holiday falls on Monday, June 14.
Take four days of annual leave from June 15-18 and you’ll get nine days off from June 12-20.
- June 12-13: Weekend
- June 14: King’s Birthday public holiday
- June 15-18: Annual leave
- June 19-20: Weekend
September: AFL Grand Final Friday
As a proudly sport-loving state, Victoria gets a public holiday on the Friday before the AFL Grand Final. In 2027, the Grand Final is confirmed for Saturday, October 2, which means Grand Final Friday falls on Friday, October 1. Take four days of annual leave from Monday, October 4 to Thursday, October 7 and you’ll get nine days off from October 1 to October 9.
- October 1: AFL Grand Final Friday public holiday
- October 2-3: Weekend
- October 4-7: Annual leave
- October 8: Back to work
- October 9-10: Weekend
If you want to turn it into an even longer break, take five days of annual leave from October 4-8 and you’ll get ten days off from October 1 to October 10.
November: Melbourne Cup Day
Melbourne Cup Day lands on Tuesday, November 2 in 2027, giving Victorians another handy opportunity to build a long break.
Take four days of annual leave on November 1 and November 3-5 and you’ll get nine days off from October 30 to November 7.
- October 30-31: Weekend
- November 1: Annual leave
- November 2: Melbourne Cup Day public holiday
- November 3-5: Annual leave
- November 6-7: Weekend
December-January: Christmas and New Year
Christmas is particularly generous in Victoria in 2027. Christmas Day falls on Saturday, December 25, with an additional public holiday on Monday, December 27. Boxing Day falls on Sunday, December 26, with an additional public holiday on Tuesday, December 28.
Take three days of annual leave from December 29-31 and you can get ten days off from December 25 to January 3, 2028.
- December 25: Christmas Day
- December 26: Boxing Day
- December 27: Christmas Day additional public holiday
- December 28: Boxing Day additional public holiday
- December 29-31: Annual leave
- January 1-2: Weekend
- January 3: New Year’s Day additional public holiday
So, how does it add up?
With some strategic leave-booking, Victoria’s 2027 public holiday calendar gives you plenty of opportunities to turn a relatively small amount of annual leave into some seriously long breaks.
The big-ticket stretches are:
- January: 4 days' leave: 9 days off
- March Labour Day: 4 days' leave: 9 days off
- Easter: 4 days' leave: 10 days off
- June King’s Birthday: 4 days' leave: 9 days off
- November Melbourne Cup: 4 days' leave: 9 days off
- Christmas/New Year: 3 days' leave: 10 days off
That’s 28 days of annual leave for 66 days away from work – what a win.
It's worth noting one public holiday that isn't particularly useful for a long-weekend hack in 2027: ANZAC Day. It falls on Sunday, April 25 next year, and Victoria does not provide a replacement holiday when ANZAC Day falls on a weekend. Boohoo.
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