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Australian Central Standard Time (ACST)

Also known as: Australian Central Time (ACT) and Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT)

Caution: This is NOT the current local time in most locations in that time zone

Australia: Only some locations are currently on ACST because most places in this time zone are currently on summer time / daylight saving time and are observing ACDT.

Time zone map of ACST
Currently observing ACST.
Observes ACST part of the year.
Areas with same time currently (UTC +9:30).
Currently observing ACST – Australian Central Standard Time.
Observes ACST – Australian Central Standard Time part of the year, but not currently.
Currently has same time zone offset as ACST (UTC +9:30) but different time zone name.

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) is 9:30 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This time zone is in use during standard time in: Australia. Australian Central Standard Time is a half-hour time zone. Its local time differs by 30 minutes instead of the normal whole hour.

See full time zone map

What Is Australian Central Standard Time?

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) is a time zone in the middle of Australia. It is used in three Australian states and territories: New South Wales, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.

In New South Wales, it is only used in Broken Hill (Yancowinna County).

Australian Central Standard Time shares a border with Australian Eastern Time (AET) in the east and Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) in the west. It also shares a border with Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST), a time zone only used in Eucla.

Australian Central Standard Time Zone

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) is a standard time zone in use from the first Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October—when Daylight Saving Time (DST) is not in effect. Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT) is used during the remainder of the year.

ACST Is the Australian Central Time Zone

In everyday usage, ACST is often referred to as Australian Central Time (ACT) or the Australian Central Time Zone. This can add a bit of confusion as the term Australian Central Time does not differentiate between standard time and Daylight Saving Time, so Australian Central Time switches between ACST and ACDT in areas that use DST during part of the year.

Australia has two generic time zones that include both standard and daylight time: Australian Eastern Time (AET) and Australian Central Time (ACT). The country has a complex set of time zones, some of which have an unusual UTC offset.

Converting ACST to Other Australian Time Zones

Where and When is ACST Observed?

Australia

Australian states/territories using ACST in the winter and ACDT in the summer:

Australian states/territories using ACST all year:

Other Central Standard Time Zones

Time zones can have similar names and abbreviations but have a different UTC offset: