Boxing Day in Australia

December 26 is the Boxing Day holiday celebrated throughout most of Australia, except the state of South Australia. South Australia observes a holiday known as Proclamation Day, instead of Boxing Day, on December 26.

Boxing Day is a popular time to shop for post-Christmas sales. ©iStockphoto.com/Dmitriy Shironosov

What do people do?

Many important sports events are held on Boxing Day. The Boxing Day test match is a cricket game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game is between the Australian National cricket team and other national teams touring Australia. The match starts on Boxing Day and may last up to five days. Between 1999 and 2007, the Australian cricket team won all of the Boxing Day Test matches, marking a huge victory for the nation.

Another important sporting event that starts on Boxing Day is the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. This is also known as the Bluewater Classic and covers a distance of 630 nautical miles between Sydney Harbour and Hobart on the island of Tasmania. Traditionally, it took about six days for the yachts to reach Hobart, but now the fastest yacht usually reaches the finish in less than two days. The media interest in these prominent sports mean television programs are dominated by sporting events on Boxing Day. People also spend the day travelling home from their relatives or to an intended destination for their summer holiday, which tends to coincide with the school holiday period.

In some parts of Australia, the post-Christmas sales begin on Boxing Day. Stores offer their excess stock that was not sold before Christmas Day at reduced prices. Many people take advantage of the sales to buy products or services at significantly lower prices.

Public life

Boxing Day is a public holiday. Schools, other educational establishments and many organizations are closed. In some states, all stores are allowed to open. In others only certain types of stores are open. Many shops are open in tourist areas. Most public transport systems operate a reduced service. However, in some areas, there is no public transport on Boxing Day.

Background

Boxing Day is a holiday in many countries, such as Australia, in the Commonwealth of Nations. It was traditionally a day for employers in England to give bonuses of money, leftover food or old clothing to their employees, or for lords to give agricultural tools and seeds for the coming year to their tenants. These gifts were presented in a box. Some people believe that this is the reason that December 26 is known as Boxing Day. Others think that the origin of the name is related to the box into which parishioners put church donations. In some areas, this box was opened on Boxing Day and the contents were distributed to the poor people of the parish.

Note: Many Australian states and territories state in their holiday legislation that Christmas Day and/or Boxing Day are public holidays on December 25 and 26 unless they fall on a Saturday and/or Sunday, in which the following days (eg. Monday or Tuesday) that are generally working days, are substituted public holidays.

Boxing Day Observances

Related holidays

• Christmas Eve ―Monday, December 24, 2012
• Christmas Day ―Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Other holidays in December 2012 in Australia

• First Sunday of Advent ―Sunday, December 2, 2012
• Feast of the Immaculate Conception ―Saturday, December 8, 2012
• First Day of Chanukah ―Sunday, December 9, 2012
• Last day of Chanukah ―Sunday, December 16, 2012
• December Solstice ―Friday, December 21, 2012
• Christmas Eve ―Monday, December 24, 2012
• Christmas Day ―Tuesday, December 25, 2012
• New Year's Eve ―Monday, December 31, 2012