At the Archives, October 2, 2015

This annual moving of the clock hands has been with us since November 1, 1971, and will be the 45th consecutive time we move clocks forward one hour for summer.

But did you know that the first time NSW experienced daylight saving was way back in 1917?

The First Time

It is late in 1916. Australia has been fighting for two whole years and in addition to coping with the terrible loss of life occurring overseas, there is now a coal crisis throughout the country.

And so the Federal Government decides the solution to this problem is to introduce daylight saving time throughout Australia.

While it may have initially seemed an odd idea - to move time itself - it had not come out of thin air. A British-born New Zealander, George Hudson, had initially proposed the idea to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895. Germany and Austria-Hungry recognised the energy-saving advantages during the war and implemented the change at the end of April, 1916. Other countries, such as Great Britain, Holland and France, quickly followed suit.

In Tasmania, the government brought daylight saving into operation on October 1, 1916. The Victorians then passed their own daylight saving bill and NSW was not far behind.

A uniform approach across the country was the next step. The Daylight Saving Act 1916 (or, “An Act to Promote the Earlier Use of Daylight in Certain Months Yearly, and For Other Purposes”) was assented to on December 21, 1916.

And so the clocks across Australia (with the exception of those in Tasmania) were moved forward at two o’clock on January 1, 1917.

Time in Australia returned to normal on March 24, 1917, and was not touched again until the next time we plunged into a world war.

Visit the Archives

Blakemore Building, CSU South Campus, College Avenue, Turvey Park.

Opening hours: Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm; Sat, 10 Oct 2015, 10am - 3pm. Contact us: (02) 6933 4590 or archive@csu.edu.au.