Should Australia adopt these public holidays celebrated elsewhere?

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AUSTRALIA is no stranger to public holidays.

Nationally there’s Australia Day, Anzac Day, the Queen’s birthday, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

That’s not to mention state and territory specific public holidays including AFL grand final eve and the Melbourne Cup in Victoria, cracker day in the Northern Territory and Labor and May Days in different parts of the country.

But some countries give even Australia a run for its money when it comes to celebrating or commemorating national days of significance. There’s the Day of the Dead in Mexico — a national holiday to pay respects to the deceased. The most recent one took place earlier this week. Singles Day in China — an anti-Valentine’s Day to celebrate single people and a good excuse for an online discounted shopping frenzy will fall on Friday next week. In Japan, there are national days set aside to honour the elderly and the young. South Africa holds a national Day of Reconciliation each year to mark the end of apartheid and foster better relations between different racial groups.

According to the Australian Industry Group, every public holiday we’re granted costs the national economy between $3 and $4 billion. For business owners the personal costs can be significant. But that hasn’t stopped the push for more public holidays, including a Reconciliation Day, in Australia. The ACT is set to become the first state or territory in Australia to recognise reconciliation with a public holiday. To avoid added costs, either the Queen’s Birthday public holiday or Family and Community Day will be replaced with Reconciliation Day in 2018, and the date potentially changed. But it’s not the only national day of significance adopted in other parts of the world and marked with a public holiday that could also work in Australia.