No summer holiday programs are listed yet — and holiday searches are at a year high
10 September 2026
It is 24 September, and the school holiday board is in an odd state: the spring break is already half spent, and nothing at all is listed for summer.
Parents start looking months ahead, and they have not stopped. On AroundSchools, Google impressions for holiday searches climbed every month from May — 25 in May, 143 in June, 527 in July, 1,404 in August and 1,271 in the first 24 days of September. September is running at about 53 impressions a day against August's 45: the busiest rate of the year.
The board those parents land on is nearly bare. Of the 188 events live on AroundSchools today, ten start anywhere inside the spring window — and after today exactly one of those is still to come, a Term 4 ukulele class rather than a holiday program. For the summer break, the longest and most searched of the year, there are none at all.
Victorian and Queensland schools broke up on 19 September; New South Wales, the ACT, Western Australia and South Australia break on 26 September; Tasmania on 3 October. Spring is largely spoken for. Summer is about ten weeks away and completely open. Here is where the timeline stands from today, the dates by state, and how to post a program free.
Key takeaways
- Holiday searches are at their year high. Feb 2, Mar 18, Apr 69, May 25, Jun 143, Jul 527, Aug 1,404, and 1,271 in the first 24 days of September — impressions for "holiday" queries reaching AroundSchools in 2026, running at about 53 a day this month against August's 45.
- Spring 2026 government school holidays: VIC 19 Sep – 4 Oct · QLD 19 Sep – 5 Oct · NSW 26 Sep – 12 Oct · ACT 26 Sep – 12 Oct · WA 26 Sep – 11 Oct · SA 26 Sep – 11 Oct · TAS 3 Oct – 18 Oct.
- The spring board is spent. Ten of the 188 live events start inside that window; after today, one is still to come.
- The summer board is empty. Zero live events start between 1 December and 31 January, and schools break up in mid-December.
- Thirteen of the 188 came from providers through the free portal. The other 175 are council programs we import. That is the whole national board.
- Posting is free from the provider portal — sign up at business.aroundschools.com.au/signup. Events are reviewed before they go live, so allow a few days rather than posting the night before.
When parents look
The chart is Google Search Console data for aroundschools.com.au: every query containing "holiday" that showed one of our pages, by month. The absolute numbers are small — this is one site's slice of the demand, not the whole market — but the shape is what a provider needs. Searches were near zero through February and March, first stirred in April with the autumn break, fell back in May, then climbed every month from June: 143, 527, 1,404 in August, and 1,271 in the first 24 days of September.
The thing worth noticing is that September has not fallen away. Parents are still searching during the break itself, harder per day than in any month this year — which is what you would expect when half the country is looking for something to do this week and the other half is about to be.
The site's own school holidays page and the city pages (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart) carry the break dates and every listed holiday program — they are where a posted program appears, alongside the "Upcoming" section of nearby school profiles.
Spring 2026 dates by state
Government school dates; individual schools, and most independent and Catholic schools, vary by a few days, so check the schools your families attend.
| State | Spring holidays 2026 | Where it stands today (24 Sep) |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 19 September – 4 October | Running — ends in 10 days |
| Queensland | 19 September – 5 October | Running — ends in 11 days |
| New South Wales | 26 September – 12 October | Starts in 2 days |
| ACT | 26 September – 12 October | Starts in 2 days |
| Western Australia | 26 September – 11 October | Starts in 2 days |
| South Australia | 26 September – 11 October | Starts in 2 days |
| Tasmania | 3 October – 18 October | Starts in 9 days |
Summer: schools break up in the third week of December and return in late January or the first days of February, depending on the state and the year. The summer holidays are the longest and the most searched of the year.
Where the timeline stands today
Working back from the searching, not from the break.
- Spring, VIC and QLD — running now. Too late to fill a week that has already started, but not too late to be found by a parent searching mid-break for the second week. If you are running something, list it today and update it with what is left.
- Spring, NSW, ACT, WA and SA — two days out. This is the last-places stage. Parents who leave it late search hardest in the final week and book whatever still has spots. A program posted today can be live before Saturday.
- Spring, TAS — nine days out. The one state where the ordinary two-weeks-out playbook still applies: post, then share it to local parents' Facebook groups as a member sharing what's on, not as an advert.
- Summer — the window that is actually open. ← this is the one. Nothing is listed. Schools break up in mid-December, which is about ten weeks away, and the search curve above says parents plan two to three months ahead. A summer program listed through October and early November catches the entire run-up.
The honest read: spring is mostly gone, and it matters less than it sounds, because the break that is worth your ten minutes is the next one — and right now you would be the only one on it.
Why the events board is worth your ten minutes
There are 188 events live on AroundSchools today. Ten of them start inside the spring window, one of those is still to come, and not one starts in the summer break. Thirteen of the 188 came from providers through the portal; the other 175 are council programs we import from councils around the country. That is the whole board, nationally.
For a provider, that is a shelf with nothing on it for the break parents search for most.
A posted holiday program gets:
- Its own page at aroundschools.com.au/upcoming/… with dates, times, ages, price, venue, photos and a Register Interest button — see Kids and Teens Creative Art Workshop by Glorious Studio for what a provider-posted program looks like.
- A place in the "Upcoming" section of every school profile nearby, and on the city holiday page for your area.
- Event structured data on the page, the format Google uses for event results in search.
- Share links from your dashboard — Facebook, email and a copyable link to the event page — for your own posts and newsletters.
Events are free to post. They are reviewed by our team before they go live, so post with a few days in hand rather than the night before.
How to post a holiday program (free)
- Sign up at business.aroundschools.com.au/signup — no card, no fee. If your business is already on the site from public data, claim the listing from the dashboard.
- Create your listing first if you don't have one; the event hangs off it, and the listing is what parents see on school pages the rest of the year.
- Add an upcoming event: name it the way a parent would search ("Summer Holiday Art Camp, Ashwood, 5–12 years"), set the dates and daily times, mark it free or paid with the price, pick the age range, and add one real photo from a previous program.
- Put the booking link in the event — parents book with you directly; AroundSchools does not take bookings or a cut.
- Post it, then share the event page in your own channels. The page is the thing to link: it has the dates and the price, and it updates when you edit it.
Full details of what's included are on the upcoming events page. What parents search for the rest of the year — and how to be found — is in how parents find kids' activities online; where the suburbs with no listed programs are is in the 176 suburbs with no listed activities.
Frequently asked questions
What can I list as an event? Holiday programs and camps, workshops, sports clinics, come-and-try days, open days, arts programs, council events, school programs — anything family-friendly with a date. Term-long classes belong on your listing as class times rather than as an event.
Is there a cost to post an event? No. Posting events is free, and you keep every booking. Premium listing features are optional at $25 a month with no lock-in; the first year of premium is free.
How far ahead can I post? As far as you like. An event shows on the site from its display start date until it ends, so a summer program posted in October simply appears when you set it to.
Where do the holiday dates come from? The government school calendars for each state, as published on our school holidays pages. Independent and Catholic schools often differ by a few days.
Do I need a listing to post an event? Yes — the event is attached to your listing, which is also free and takes about ten minutes.
Data: Google Search Console for aroundschools.com.au, 1 February – 24 September 2026 (queries containing "holiday"; the last two to three days are still settling). AroundSchools database on 24 September 2026 (events with status ACTIVE, by organiser type and start date). Break dates as published on aroundschools.com.au/school-holidays.
