Definitions of time
Local Standard Time
The globe is divided into 'Standard Time' zones. Local Standard Time is the time specified for each zone. This is usually stated in terms of hours ahead or behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Location | Zone | Hours ahead of UTC |
New South Wales (except Broken Hill and Lord Howe Island) ACT, Victoria, Tasmania Queensland | Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) | UTC + 10 hours |
Broken Hill, South Australia and the Northern Territory | Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) | UTC + 9.5 hours |
Western Australia | Western Standard Time (AWST) | UTC + 8 hours |
Lord Howe Island | | UTC + 10.5 hours |
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving or summer time is commonly expressed as AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). In periods of daylight saving an hour is added to the Local Standard Time.
Where daylight saving is observed
NSW, ACT, VIC and TAS move from AEST to Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), and clocks are advanced to UTC +11.
SA and the NSW town of Broken Hill move from ACST to Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT), and clocks are advanced to UTC +10 ½.
Daylight saving is not observed in Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia.
Further information about time zones and 
daylight saving in other Australian states and territories is available on the australia.gov.au website.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
UTC replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the international time standard and is based on an atomic clock (
International Atomic Time, or TAI).
Current UTC time can be retrieved from the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM).