Sunrise and sunset
The earliest sunrise in every Australian city this summer
Brisbane’s earliest sunrise this summer is at 4:45 am on December 2. Sydney, at nearly the same longitude, never sees the sun rise before 5:37 am, 52 minutes later.
Meridian Clock · November 2, 2026 · How these were worked out
Earliest sunrise across Australia
- Before 5 am
- 5 am to 5:19 am
- 5:20 am to 5:39 am
- 5:40 am to 5:59 am
- 6 am or later
Brisbane keeps standard time all year, the sun’s time at 150° east, and sits 3° east of that line. Sydney moves its clocks an hour ahead for summer, to the sun’s time at 165° east, and sits 14° west of it. Every degree of longitude moves sunrise by four minutes.
The Gold Coast has the earliest sunrise of any Australian city, 4:42 am on December 2. Perth, which also keeps standard time all year, is third at 5:03 am.
Darwin, also on standard time, has the latest, 6:10 am on November 20. It sits 12° west of the 142.5° east its clock keeps. Adelaide is 19° west of the 157.5° east its summer clock keeps, and waits until 5:55 am.
Brisbane’s latest sunset this summer is 6:48 pm, on January 11. Sydney’s is 8:10 pm, and Hobart’s is 8:52 pm, the latest of any city here.
The earliest sunrise is not on the longest day. In Brisbane, sunrises start getting later after December 2, 20 days before the longest day on December 22, and sunsets keep getting later until January 11. The further north a city is, the earlier its earliest sunrise comes: Darwin’s is on November 20 and Hobart’s on December 10.
Every city, earliest sunrise first
| City | Earliest sunrise | Latest sunset | Longest day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Coast | 4:42 amDec 2 | 6:47 pmJan 11 | 13 h 55 min |
| Brisbane | 4:45 amDec 2 | 6:48 pmJan 11 | 13 h 53 min |
| Perth | 5:03 amDec 5 | 7:26 pmJan 8 | 14 h 14 min |
| Hobart | 5:26 amDec 10 | 8:52 pmJan 3 | 15 h 21 min |
| Townsville | 5:26 amNov 26 | 6:57 pmJan 18 | 13 h 17 min |
| Cairns | 5:34 amNov 24 | 6:57 pmJan 20 | 13 h 8 min |
| Newcastle | 5:37 amDec 5 | 8:05 pmJan 8 | 14 h 19 min |
| Sydney | 5:37 amDec 6 | 8:10 pmJan 7 | 14 h 24 min |
| Wollongong | 5:37 amDec 6 | 8:13 pmJan 7 | 14 h 27 min |
| Canberra | 5:42 amDec 6 | 8:22 pmJan 7 | 14 h 32 min |
| Melbourne | 5:51 amDec 8 | 8:46 pmJan 5 | 14 h 47 min |
| Geelong | 5:53 amDec 8 | 8:49 pmJan 5 | 14 h 49 min |
| Adelaide | 5:55 amDec 6 | 8:33 pmJan 7 | 14 h 30 min |
| Darwin | 6:10 amNov 20 | 7:20 pmJan 24 | 12 h 51 min |
Using these figures
Quote any figure here with a link to this page. Each city’s own page has its sunrise and sunset for every day of the year, and clock changes in south-east Australia has when daylight saving starts and ends.
How these were worked out
Times come from the same sun calculations as each city’s sunrise and sunset page, for the city’s coordinates. Sunrise is when the top of the sun clears a flat horizon, allowing for the air bending its light, on the local clock and rounded to the minute. Which clocks change, and when, follows the IANA time zone database.
The period is November 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027, and the cities are every Australian city with a page on Meridian Clock, which covers the country’s largest. A clock’s meridian is its offset from UTC at four minutes to the degree. Hills, buildings and height above sea level can move the sunrise you see by a few minutes.
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