Public Holiday

Although the current monarch was born on April 21, 1926, her official birthday is celebrated on a range of dates in the different countries of the Commonwealth.

The Monarch’s Birthday was first celebrated in Australia in 1788. In that year, King George III was the Monarch and Governor Arthur Phillip declared a holiday to mark his birthday. Originally, the Monarch’s birthday was celebrated on the anniversary of the actual date of birth of the King or Queen. However, after the death of King George V in 1936, the date remained close to his birthday, which was June 3.

On the second Monday in June, the Queen’s Birthday honors list is released. This contains the names of the new members of the Order of Australia and other honors issued by the Australian government or the Queen. These are generally for exceptional service to Australians, Australia or humanity as a whole.