In this article we teach you which days to book off work using your annual leave to turn 20 days leave into the best family holidays!
We’ve checked all the school holidays and all the public holidays in Queensland in 2024 and we’ve worked out the best way to spend your annual leave to make the most of your time off and get as much time as possible for your family holidays, because kids spell love T.I.M.E!
You’ll need to book your time off well in advance, because getting leave can be tricky over the school/public holidays. There are 9 separate holiday options listed below that fall in line with public holidays and school holidays…. you wont be able to do them all with your 20 days allocated annual leave, but this will help you plan which ones suit your family best!
Here are the possibilities:
Planning your family holidays this year!
So this is when you need to book your days off AND where we suggest you consider going for your family holidays!
January 26 – 28 2024
This year Australia Day falls on a Friday so you will get a long weekend and use zero of your annual leave.
(Australia Day – 3 days holiday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – use 0 days annual leave)
The end of the Summer school holidays does not have to signify the end of family time. This year our Australia Day holiday falls on a Friday, so the kids have that day off school too. Combine these days together take a 3 day long weekend with your family, using zero days of your annual leave entitlement .
Find out why short family breaks are awesome here! For a cheeky mini-break from Brisbane at the end of January we recommend a farm stay on the Gold Coast. We’ve got a great overview of Gold Coast farm stays here.
March 29 to April 7 2024
(Easter – 16 days holiday – use 9 days annual leave)
Book off: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 April, 2024
Nine days of leave over Easter equals a whopping 16 days off work and aligns with the Easter school holidays. We recommend a Queensland camping trip – but book early as camping at Easter always gets booked out well ahead of time. Check out our favourite camping (or cabin) spots here.
April 25 – May 6, 2024
ANZAC Day falls on a Thursday this year so if you have kids at school you can take one day of annual leave and sneak them out of school for another long weekend.
If you don’t have kids at school, you can combine your ANZAC Day holiday with Labour Day on 6 May you can get a whopping 12 days off work! You will need to take off the Friday 26 April and the following week too.
(ANZAC Day – 12 days holiday – use 6 day annual leave)
Book off: 26, 29, 30 April and 1, 2, 3 May 2024
In April the weather is often (but not always) cooling down a little in Brisbane, so a great time for a beach holiday.
Our favourite family resorts include:
- Paradise Resort – Gold Coast
- Yamba Blue Dolphin Holiday Resort – Yamba
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa – Gold Coast
- BIG4 North Star Holiday Resort – Hastings Point
- Discovery Parks – Byron Bay
June 24 – 5 July 2024
(School holidays – 16 days holiday – use 10 days annual leave)
Book off: 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 June and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 July.
There’s a long winter stretch where we don’t have any public holidays to take advantage of, so if you are able to take additional annual leave above your 20 days, this is the time to do it! But taking 10 days annual leave will give you and your family a 16 day break! Make the most of it, by combining your days off with the school holidays in July this year and weekends on either side.
Winter is our absolute favourite time to visit the beautiful Bunya Mountains. Let the kids run free outside with a plethora of things to do (we wrote about them here) and rug up at night and enjoy a warm home at surprisingly cheap prices. Find out more in our review here.
August 14 – 16 2024
(EKKA holiday – 5 days holiday – use 2 days annual leave)
Book off: 15, 16 August.
You may want to go to the EKKA of course, or you may want to take advantage of the public holiday and whip the kids out of 2 days of school for some special family time. Now we are not recommending anyone ‘cuts class’ by taking time off school during term time, but the rules in Queensland are quite clear about taking time off school for family time… and if you can and it sits right with you, I highly recommend it!
For a 5 day holiday in August, we recommend checking out the dolphins in Tin Can Bay – find out more here.
Friday 30 August – Sunday 1 September 2024
(Weekend + 1 day Student Free Day = 3 days holiday, use 1 day of annual leave)
Book off: Friday 30 August
Most Queensland state schools will have a student free day on Friday 30 August, 2024 – and if you can wangle the bonus day off, then this is another long weekend holiday option for your family!
September 14 – September 29 2024
(School holidays + weekends – 16 days holiday – use 10 days annual leave)
Book Off: 16 – 27 September
The Kings Birthday this year is celebrated in Queensland on Monday October 7 and DOES NOT align with school holidays!! BOO! So you will need to use 10 days annual leave in the weeks prior and the weekends on either side, if you want to get 16 days of holidays, over the QLD school holiday break, to really push the boat out and go somewhere fun. Check out some ideas in our travel section here.
October 5, 6, 7 2024
(Weekend + Kings Birthday = 3 days holiday, use 0 day of annual leave)
It is such a bummer that this doesn’t align this year, but I guess that just means that we have more little breaks to look forward to rather than long stints between holidays.
December 25 2024 – January 1 2025
(Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years Day – 12 days holidays – use 5 days annual leave)
Book off: 27, 30, 31 December & 2, 3 January 2025.
If you have family up north or interstate, this is the perfect time to use your last few days of annual leave to get away from Brisbane for one last holiday. Why not travel by long distance train to get there? If you don’t need to get away to see family, there are a huge amount of get-away options for families:
So there you have it!! EIGHT family holidays using 20 days annual leave. Let us know what you get up to in comments!
This article featured in Issue 32 of our printed magazine, published February 2019.
