Australia is a big country. In fact, it is almost 4000 kilometres from the east coast to the west coast. Australia is so big that we have 3 different time zones;

• Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST),
• Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) and
• Australian Western Standard Time (AWST).

States that use AEST include Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. States that use ACST include South Australia and the Northern Territory.  The only state that uses AWST is Western Australia. 

This might seem quite simple and generally it is. HOWEVER, every year in October, it becomes a little more confusing. In October, many states in Australia change their times. This is called Daylight Savings Time (DST).

Did you notice that I wrote 'many states' and I didn't write 'all states'? Yes, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory CHANGE their times and Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia DO NOT CHANGE their time. This means that from October until April, there are more time zones to consider.

• AEST for Queensland
• AEDT for New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria
• ACDT for South Australia
• ACST for the Northern Territory
• AWST for Western Australia.

It is very confusing for me.