Time Zones and Legislation
Though the governments of the states and territories have the power to legislate variations in time, the standard time within each of these is set related to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and set by section 8AA of the National Measurement Act of 1960 of the British Commonwealth.
Australia has kept a version of the UTC atomic time scale since the 1990s, but Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) remained the formal basis for the standard times of all of the states through 2005. In November 2004, the state and territory attorneys-general endorsed a proposal from the Australian National Measurement Institute to adopt UTC as the standard of all Australian standard times, thereby eliminating the effects of slight variations in the rate of rotation of the Earth that are inherent in mean solar time. All states have adopted the UTC standard, starting on 1 September 2005.
In Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania. and the ACT, the starting and ending dates of DST are officially determined by proclamations, declarations, or regulation made by the State Governor or by the responsible minister. Such instruments may be valid for only the current year, and so this section generally only refers to the legislation. In New South Wales and Western Australia, the starting and ending dates, if any, are to be set by legislation.
Western Standard Time (WST) – UTC+08:00
- Western Australia – Standard Time Act 2005
Central Standard Time (ACST)- UTC+09:30
- South Australia – Standard Time Act 2009 and the Daylight Saving Act 1971
- Northern Territory – Standard Time Act 2005
Eastern Standard Time (AEST) – UTC+10:00
- Queensland – Standard Time Act 1894
- New South Wales – Standard Time Act 1987 No 149
- Australian Capital Territory – Standard Time and Summer Time Act 1972
- Victoria – Summer Time Act 1972
- Tasmania – Standard Time Act 1895 and the Daylight Saving Act 2007
Read more about this topic: Time In Australia
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