Christmas in Australia

The first Christmas celebrations in Australia have their roots in late 1788 and were introduced by convicts of the First Fleet, who arrived in Sydney Harbour early the same year. From the 19th century onwards, the tradition of erecting Christmas trees, the sending of Christmas cards and the display of decorations spread throughout Australia.

Since that time, Christmas in Australia has remained an officially observed holiday and is celebrated as a traditional summer-time occasion.

An Australian Christmas dessert pavlova garnished with strawberries

The traditional Christmas tree is central to Christmas decorations, and strings of lights and tinsel are standard. Decorations appear in stores and on streets starting in November and are commonplace by early December. Many homeowners decorate the exterior of their houses. Displays range from modest to elaborate, sometimes with hundreds of lights and decorations depicting seasonal motifs such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer, or nativity scenes. Particular regions have a tradition for elaborate displays, and attract a great amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic during the Christmas season. This is despite the longer days, resulting in sunset occurring after 8 p.m. in areas with daylight saving.[2]

Most workplaces conduct a "Christmas Party" sometime during December, but rarely on Christmas Eve itself. As many people take their holidays between Christmas and New Year's Day, and many workplaces completely close for that period, these parties are effectively an end of the year or break-up party and frequently feature little or no reference to Christmas itself. Likewise, schools, TAFE (vocational training), and universities break for summer holidays. Schools typically end in the week before Christmas, to recommence in late January or early February. Following Christmas, many churches will change their evening meetings to a less formal format, while many hobby clubs also suspend or alter their meetings in this period.

In the lead up to Christmas, many businesses and residential houses will be decorated with Christmas lights and arrangements. It is common to drive around of an evening to look at lights from the car, or for families to walk the residential streets to see front yard displays. Some local councils will hold street light competitions, and maps are regularly posted highlighting the best street light displays.[3][4]

On Christmas Eve, the children are told, Santa Claus[5] visits houses placing presents for children under the Christmas tree or in stockings or sacks which are usually hung by a fireplace. In recent decades many new apartments and homes have been built without traditional combustion fireplaces, however with some innovation the tradition persists. Snacks and beverages may be left out for Santa to consume during his visit, often milk and cookies, or a beer. Carrots are also commonly left for Santa's reindeer. The gifts are opened the next morning, on Christmas Day.

Families traditionally gather for a Christmas Day lunch. Traditions include decorated hams, roast turkey, roast chicken, salads and roast vegetables. Christmas crackers are pulled before eating. More recently, as appropriate to the often hotter weather of the day, it has become popular to serve local seasonal produce such as cold meats, seafood and salad.[1] Similarly, dessert also includes a mix of traditional winter Christmas food (such as plum pudding with brandy butter, fruit mince pies, and trifle) alongside local traditions such as pavlova,[6] and fresh fruit such as berries and kiwifruit.[1] Candy canes are a popular confectionery for the children's table during the Christmas period.

Christmas by Michael Bublé re-enters the album charts every year at Christmas time until the new year, generally reaching number 1 or the top 5.[7] Similarly, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey re-enters the singles charts each year until the new year.

As Christmas falls in summer, televised Christmas specials are not a large part of Australian Christmas traditions, unlike in the United Kingdom, in which it is one of the most important days for television ratings. Television ratings in Australia are not taken during the summer and schedules are mostly filled with repeats of old programs or previously cancelled shows. Some locally produced programs have a Christmas special, though often it will be shown early December and not on Christmas Day itself. Many television stations rerun Christmas-themed films in the weeks leading up to and including Christmas Day, such as It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, The Polar Express, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and various film versions of A Christmas Carol. Outdoor activities such as street cricket or swimming are popular ways to spend Christmas Day.

"The average Australian Christmas" cartoon by Livingston Hopkins (c. 1900) – click to enlarge.

Some Australian songwriters and authors have occasionally depicted Santa in "Australian"-style clothing including an Akubra hat, with warm-weather clothing and thongs, and riding in a ute pulled by kangaroos, (e.g. Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris). There are also a small number of popularly recognised original Australian Christmas songs, including Paul Kelly's How to Make Gravy, Colin Buchanan's Aussie Jingle Bells and Tim Minchin's White Wine in the Sun but these depictions have not replaced mainstream iconography.[8]

The tradition of sending Christmas cards is widely practised in Australia. The price of a Christmas postage stamp is lower than that for a standard letter; senders are required to mark the envelope "card only" when using the lower priced stamps.[9] In recent years the tradition of sending Christmas hampers has been increasing popular over the past 20 years, with many companies now gifting clients and staff.[10]

Christmas Day and New Years Day are public holidays in Australia, along with Boxing Day. (Technically, South Australia celebrates Proclamation Day rather than Boxing Day, but has the holiday on 26 December to provide uniformity with other states).[11][12]

Local traditions

A float in the 2008 Norwood Christmas pageant depicting Father Christmas' sleigh on top of Australian-style historic buildings