Why state’s Queen’s Birthday holiday date won’t move

The state’s October 2022 public holiday will still be known as the Queen’s Birthday – and the date will not move despite the monarch’s death.

Queensland will celebrate its last “Queen’s Birthday” public holiday for generations on Monday, October 3, with Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman confirming no title change was planned for this year.

And while the public holiday will more popularly be known as the King’s Birthday holiday from 2023, the date will not move in Queensland because it has been baked into law.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman confirmed no title change to October’s Queen’s Birthday public holiday was planned for this year. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

Under the Holidays Act 1983, the “Birthday of the Sovereign” is a public holiday “to be observed on the first Monday in October”.

Queensland has observed the sovereign’s birthday on the first Monday in October since 2016 and also once in 2012 when June was reserved to mark her diamond Jubilee.

But before that, the public holiday had fallen on the second Monday of June for many decades.

Originally published as Why state’s Queen’s Birthday holiday date won’t move