Eight Hours Day in Australia ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Eight Hours Day in Australia and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
The Eight Hours Day is a public holiday in Australia that commemorates the achievement of the eight-hour working day by the country’s workers. It is celebrated on the first Monday in October.
The Eight Hours Day was first celebrated in 1856, when stonemasons in Melbourne staged a walk-off to protest against their working conditions. The protest quickly spread to other trades, and within a few years the eight-hour working day had been established as a standard for most workers in Australia.
Since then, the Eight Hours Day has been used as a rallying point for workers’ rights campaigns, including the fight for the weekend and paid holidays. In recent years, it has also become a day to celebrate the contribution of workers to the economy and society.