The start of daylight savings means longer days, and, usually the start of warmer weather (though, this year, with La Niña, who really knows).
So, when does it start again here in Australia? Well, you’ll be pleased to know it’s coming up. On October 2, 2022, at 2am, we’ll be setting our clocks forward to 3am. This means sunrise and sunset will be an hour later than the day before, and there will be more light in the evening. It also means we’ll be ‘losing’ an hour, so your 7 am alarm will feel like a 6 am wake-up.
Note that this is only for South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Daylight savings isn’t observed in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.
The next time the clocks will move after this will be in April 2023, when they’ll move forward. Then, sunrise and sunset will be an hour later.
Daylight savings has long been a hotly contested topic, with passionate arguments both for and against it.
While a University of Queensland study found that the state tallies up $4 billion in lost productivity each year because of its lack of daylight savings, a number of health professionals are calling for it to be cancelled.
In 2021, Professor of Diabetes at Monash University, Paul Zimmet, said on 3AW the Victorian Health Department should consider getting rid of it.
“In terms of the scientific evidence, which we will want to stick with at the moment, there are more heart attacks just after daylight saving, more road accidents, and then you’ve got workplace accidents, car accidents and their implications,” Zimmet said.
“There is also cognitive dysfunction in relation to the daylight saving and the change in timing to our normal body rhythms.”
This year, countries part of the European Union will be able to choose whether they want to stay on “permanent summer” or “permanent winter” time.
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