The holidays are over… so when’s your next one?
By the first week of January, most lawyers are back at their desks: inboxes refilled, court lists restarting, and matters back in motion. And for many, the festive break only reinforces one thing, fourweeks of annual leave doesn’t feel like much, especially if a large chunk disappears over Christmas and New Year.
Australian full-time employees are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards, yet many lawyers either underuse it or take it in short, fragmented blocks. The result? We often hear from lawyers that never fully switch off.
Extended breaks matter. It often takes several days just to decompress from deadlines, clients, and billable targets. Proper time away reduces burnout risk, restores focus, and helps sustain performance over the long term, something the legal profession continues to grapple with.
Put simply: well-rested lawyers do better work.
The strategy: work smarter with public holidays
The good news is that with a bit of forward planning, your annual leave can go significantly further than you might expect. By aligning leave with weekends and public holidays, it’s possible to more than double, you’re paid time off across the year, without taking unpaid leave.
The key to maximising leave is not taking more days, it’s placing them well.
With the approach below, lawyers can turn19 days of annual leave into approximately 49 days away from work, spread across the year.
The best times to book leave in 2026
Australia Day 2026
4 leave days = 9 consecutive days off
Australia Day falls on Monday 26 January. By taking leave from Tuesday 27 to Friday 30 January, you can enjoy nine days off in a row, a rare chance for a proper summer break early in the year.
Easter 2026
4 leave days for a 10-day break
Easter remains one of the most valuable leave periods. With Good Friday on 3 April and Easter Monday on 6 April, taking 7–10 April as leave creates a ten-day break. For many lawyers, this is perfectly timed after a busy Q1.
Labour Day
4 leave days = 9 days off
Labour Day in Queensland falls on Monday 4 May 2026. By taking Tuesday 5 to Friday 8 May as leave, you can enjoy nine consecutive days off, creating a valuable mid-year circuit breaker.
King’s Birthday
Another 9-day break with smart planning
In Queensland, the King’s Birthday public holiday is observed on Monday 5 October 2026. Add four leave days from Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 October, and you unlock another nine-day break, perfectly placed before the end-of-year rush.
Christmas 2026 & New Year 2027
3 leave days for a 12-day break
If you’re planning ahead, the 2026 festive season is especially generous. With Christmas Day falling on a Friday and New Year’s Day close behind, taking just 29–31 December as annual leave allows you to enjoy 12 consecutive days off, from Thursday 24 December through to Sunday 4 January 2027, creating a smooth, uninterrupted end-of-year break with only three days of leave.
What this looks like overall
By using approximately 19 days of annual leave in 2026, you can structure five substantial breaks totalling around 49 days away from work, including weekends and public holidays.
Rather than scattered days here and there, you get real downtime, time to travel, rest, or simply step back and reset.
Annual leave isn’t just about rest as it’s about longevity in a demanding profession. Strategic leave planning gives you something to look forward to, helps manage stress across the year, and creates space to think more clearly about your work and career.
As the year gets underway, now is the perfect time to map it out.
Your diary, and your future self, will thank you.