Sydney uses AEST (UTC+10) and switches to AEDT (UTC+11) from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April. Because the Northern Hemisphere moves its clocks in the opposite season, the gap with London swings between 9 hours in the southern winter and 11 hours in the southern summer, with short 10-hour periods while the clocks change.
Not all of Australia changes its clocks. Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia stay on standard time all year, so in summer Sydney is one hour ahead of Brisbane even though they share AEST in winter. Lord Howe Island, part of New South Wales, uses UTC+10:30 with a 30-minute daylight saving shift — one of the few places in the world with a half-hour change.
Australia has three standard time zones — AWST (UTC+8), ACST (UTC+9:30) and AEST (UTC+10) — but once daylight saving starts in the south-eastern states, the mainland shows five different clock times at once.
The ASX trades from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sydney time. A Sydney morning overlaps with the previous afternoon on the US West Coast, and a Sydney evening with the European morning. The famous New Year fireworks over the harbour go off at midnight — when it is still 1 p.m. on 31 December in London.
| City | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 17:00(−19 h, previous day) | 19:00(−17 h, previous day) |
| New York | 20:00(−16 h, previous day) | 22:00(−14 h, previous day) |
| São Paulo | 22:00(−14 h, previous day) | 23:00(−13 h, previous day) |
| London | 01:00(−11 h) | 03:00(−9 h) |
| Paris | 02:00(−10 h) | 04:00(−8 h) |
| Dubai | 05:00(−7 h) | 06:00(−6 h) |
| Mumbai | 06:30(−5 h 30 min) | 07:30(−4 h 30 min) |
| Singapore | 09:00(−3 h) | 10:00(−2 h) |
| Tokyo | 10:00(−2 h) | 11:00(−1 h) |
Sydney uses Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST, UTC+10) and Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT, UTC+11) from early October to early April.
Clocks go forward on the first Sunday in October and back on the first Sunday in April — the opposite season to Europe and North America.
Sydney is 9 hours ahead of London in the middle of the year (AEST vs BST) and 11 hours ahead in January (AEDT vs GMT), with 10-hour periods while the clocks change.
Yes. Sydney is 14 to 16 hours ahead of New York depending on daylight saving in both countries — 16 hours in January and 14 hours in July.