Don’t forget! The clocks are changing TONIGHT as daylight saving starts - so here’s what you need to know
Most Australians will enjoy an extra hour of sunlight but lose an hour of sleep when daylight saving starts this weekend.
Clocks will go forward one hour in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT from 2am on Sunday.
The change means Sydney and Melbourne will be an hour ahead of Brisbane, 90 minutes in front of Darwin and three hours ahead of Perth.
NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT will spring their clocks forward at 2am on Sunday, signalling the start of Daylight Saving Time (file image pictured)
Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not observe Daylight Saving Time.
The shake-up in time has been known to cause problems with sleep and bodily rhythms for some Australians.
Dr Carmel Harrington, from medical sleep equipment company ResMed, said the changing clocks caused issues for many Australians.
'The spring forward can actually present significant sleep health issues for some of us,' Dr Harrington said.
'We may gain another hour of daylight, but our body clock is not so quick in its adjustment and we will find it harder to go to sleep that hour earlier and find it difficult to wake up that hour earlier.'
Dr Harrington suggested adjusting your body by waking and going to bed earlier on Saturday to make up for the lost time overnight.
Australians should also make their bedrooms as bright as possible to help them wake up on Sunday morning.
Most smartphone devices and computers will adjust to the new time automatically but analogue clocks need to be changed manually.
Daylight saving ends on April 4, 2021.
Most Australians will enjoy an extra hour of sunlight but lose an hour of sleep (stock image)
Australia is divided into three time zones known as Australian Eastern Standard Time , Australian Central Standard Time and Australian Western Standard Time .
In Australia, Daylight Saving Time is when clocks go forward by one hour for the winter and one hour back in the summer.
Germany was the first country to adopt DST in 1916 as a way to reduce fuel usage during the war and after its success, it was taken on by other countries. It was used again during World War II.
Tasmania was the first to implement Daylight Saving Time in 1968 and other states did the same in 1971. Queensland stopped participating in 1971.
However, five years later, a referendum was held in NSW asking whether or not DST should be adopted on a permanent basis, but the majority voted in favour of the clocks being put back and forward.
Daylight Saving Time is observed in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
It is not used in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
In Australia, Daylight Saving Time is less popular in rural areas because farmers are affected by the changes in time.
However, changing the clocks does not create extra daylight because people are just adding an hour of natural sunlight to their days.
The extra daylight encourages people to get out of the house and do more outdoor activities as well as provide a boost to the tourism industry.
Studies have also shown that DST can make people sick because of the disruption to body clocks or circadian rhythms.