Right now, if you're standing on the white sands of Cottesloe Beach or looking out over the iron-red dirt of the Pilbara, your watch says something very different from someone in Sydney. Western Australian time now is tucked away in its own corner of the world, specifically Australian Western Standard Time (AWST).
It is UTC +8.
That might seem like a dry statistic, but it’s actually a point of fierce local pride and occasional logistical chaos. While the eastern states of Australia—New South Wales, Victoria, and the like—fiddle with their clocks twice a year for daylight saving, Western Australia (WA) stays exactly where it is.
The Great Daylight Saving Rebellion
Honestly, the conversation around daylight saving in WA is a bit of a touchy subject. Or a joke, depending on who you ask. The state has held four separate referendums on the matter since 1975. The most recent one was in 2009.
Every single time, the public said a resounding "No."
Why? Well, some people joked that the extra hour of sunlight would fade the curtains. Others, more seriously, pointed out that the heat in a WA summer is already punishing enough without extending the "daylight" hours of peak sun. Farmers didn't like it; parents with kids trying to sleep in 35-degree heat (that’s 95°F) definitely didn't like it.
So, while the rest of the country jumps back and forth, WA stays firmly at UTC +8. This creates a weird "accordion" effect with the time difference between Perth and Sydney. In the winter, Perth is two hours behind the east coast. In the summer, when the east coast switches to daylight saving, that gap widens to three hours.
The "Middle" Time Zone You’ve Never Heard Of
Here is something kinda wild that most people—even some Australians—don’t know.
There is an unofficial time zone called Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST).
It’s tiny. It covers a handful of roadhouses along the Eyre Highway, like Eucla and Madura, near the South Australian border. Because these spots are so far from Perth but also a long way from Adelaide, the locals basically decided to split the difference.
They operate on UTC +8:45.
If you’re driving across the Nullarbor Plain, you’ll see signs telling you to set your clock forward by 45 minutes. It isn't "official" in a legal sense, but if you want to get a burger at the roadhouse before they close, you better follow the local time.
Business and the "Three-Hour Gap"
For anyone working in business, Western Australian time now creates a very specific window of productivity.
Perth is in the same time zone as about 24% of the world’s population. It shares a clock with Singapore, Hong Kong, and much of China. This makes Perth a massive powerhouse for trade with Asia. You can call a client in Shanghai at 10:00 AM and it’s 10:00 AM for them too.
But dealing with Sydney or Melbourne? That’s a different story.
When it’s 9:00 AM in Perth during the summer, it’s already noon in Sydney. By the time the Perth office gets back from lunch at 2:00 PM, the Sydney office is starting to pack up for the day at 5:00 PM. You basically have a three-hour window to get things done before one side of the country goes home.
Traveling to the West
If you're planning a trip, keep these nuances in mind. Most of the state follows AWST.
- Perth and the majority of WA: UTC +8 (No daylight saving).
- The Border Settlements (Eucla): UTC +8:45 (A local quirk).
- Christmas Island: This is a WA-administered territory but it’s actually UTC +7.
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands: Another territory, sitting at UTC +6:30.
It’s easy to get caught out, especially with flight times. A flight from Sydney to Perth might look like it only takes two hours on the ticket because of the time difference, but you’re actually in the air for about five.
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Managing the Shift
The best way to handle the jump to Western Australia is to lean into the "Perth morning." Because the sun rises early and the state doesn't shift its clocks, the culture is very much built around the early hours.
You’ll see people surfing, running, or grabbing coffee at 6:00 AM because by 3:00 PM, the heat (and the time difference with the east) starts to settle in.
If you are coordinating meetings or flights, always double-check if the "other side" is currently in daylight saving. It’s the number one cause of missed Zoom calls in Australia.
Check your devices
Most modern smartphones handle the transition perfectly, but if you are driving across the border from South Australia or the Northern Territory, manually check that your phone hasn't "jumped" to a tower in the wrong zone. This happens more often than you'd think in the remote Kimberley or the Nullarbor.
Watch the sun
In the far north of WA, like Broome or Kununurra, the sun sets much earlier than in Perth. Even though they are in the same time zone, the sheer size of the state means the daylight experience is totally different.
Plan your calls
If you need to reach someone in the US or Europe from WA, your best bet is the early morning (for the US) or the late evening (for Europe). It’s a bit of a juggle, but that’s the reality of living in one of the most isolated—and beautiful—cities on Earth.