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How to turn 20 days of leave into 55 days off in 2027 in NSW

With 20 days of annual leave and the 9 weekday public holidays in New South Wales, you can have 55 days off in 2027 across 11 breaks, including 10 days at Easter and 9 days at Christmas. These are the exact days to book, assuming you work Monday to Friday and plan from January to December.

Dates from the NSW government, checked 26 October 2026. Updated 26 October 2026.

The best value days to book

One day of leave next to a public holiday weekend goes furthest. Book these first:

The 20-day plan, break by break

11 breaks, at least two weeks apart, using 20 days of leave. Total: 55 days off.

• Leave to book
• Public holiday
• Weekend

More or less leave?

Leave on top of the public holidays, planned the same way: two breaks of nine days or more, the rest long weekends.

Long weekends or big trips?

Your leave in Australia

• Full-time and part-time employees (not casuals) get 4 weeks of paid annual leave a year under the National Employment Standards (NES), based on their ordinary hours of work. Awards and registered agreements can't give less but can give more. Source
• Employees defined as shiftworkers by their award or registered agreement (for the purposes of the NES) get 5 weeks of paid annual leave a year. Source
• Annual leave accumulates gradually during each year of service, based on the ordinary hours worked, from the first day of employment (including any probation period). Source
• Unused annual leave rolls over from year to year; it doesn't have to be taken each year and can be taken as soon as it has accumulated. Source
• Annual leave loading is not part of the NES: it's an extra payment some employees get when they take annual leave, depending on their award or agreement. Many awards set it at 17.5% (in some, shiftworkers get the higher of 17.5% or their shift loading). Source
• If a public holiday falls during paid annual leave, it isn't counted as annual leave, so the leave balance isn't reduced for that day (10 days off that include a Monday public holiday use 9 days of leave). This may not apply to leave granted above the NES minimum. Source

How this is worked out

• A break counts every day from your first day off to your last, weekends and public holidays included.
• Public holiday dates are the official ones for New South Wales, checked on 26 October 2026. A holiday that falls at a weekend only counts where the official list moves it to a weekday.
• Only work days in 2027 are booked. A break can run into January 2028 on free days, but never on next year's leave.
• Breaks are kept at least two weeks apart, so the year doesn't turn into one long run of Fridays.
• It's the same optimiser the Leave Hacker app uses, checked by tests against the app's own numbers.