Australia Day Contest

Australia's national day contest: twelve hours from 2200 UTC on 25 January, six HF bands, scored on distance between grid squares.

Rules at wia.org.auThe rules are the sponsor's. This page holds the dates and the facts.

When it runs

January 26, every year

2200Z the day before → 1000Z

Times are UTC, as the sponsor states them.

Next runnings

2200Z Mon 25 Jan → 1000Z Tue 26 Jan · 12h2027
in 116 days
2200Z Tue 25 Jan → 1000Z Wed 26 Jan · 12h2028
in 481 days
2200Z Thu 25 Jan → 1000Z Fri 26 Jan · 12h2029
in 847 days
2200Z Fri 25 Jan → 1000Z Sat 26 Jan · 12h2030
in 1212 days

Operating

Modes: SSB / FM / CW / FT8/FT4 AM
Bands: 160m80m40m20m15m10m
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands only.
Exchange: RS(T) or SNR followed by a four-character grid square.
Logs: vklogchecker.com
Who can enter: Anyone, anywhere.
The categories are 'DX and VK' and the aim is for VK amateurs 'to contact other amateurs around the world', so entry is not restricted to Australia.

Where this comes from

Checked against the sponsor: Yes. The rule on this page was read off WIA's own published rules. Link last confirmed 2026-08-19.
What the source says: wia.org.au/members/contests/australiaday/, the WIA's own page: 'It is held on the Australia Day Public Holiday that being the 26th of January.' 'Upcoming Contest Date & Time: Australia Day January 26th. 2200 UTC 25th January to 1000 UTC 26th January.' Aim: 'Amateurs in VK will endeavour to contact other amateurs around the world. Some VK operators will be using the AX prefix to celebrate Australia day.' Modes: 'Phone (Includes AM, FM & SSB), CW, Mixed, DIGI - FT8/FT4 (Separate digital section)', with 'FM, AM, & SSB count as one mode.' Exchange: 'A valid exchange consists of RS(T) or SNR followed by a 4 character grid square.' Permitted bands: '160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands only.' Scoring is distance-based on four-character grid squares, and results are published at vklogchecker.com.
Recorded caveats: ANCHORED ON A PUBLIC HOLIDAY AND STARTING THE DAY BEFORE IT. Australia Day is 26 January, and the contest opens at 2200 UTC on the 25th -- which is 0900 on the 26th in eastern Australia. So the record's anchor is the 26th with a day_offset of -1 on the start, exactly as WIA states it, rather than a rule about the 25th. Modes: WIA's 'Phone' covers AM, FM and SSB and scores as one mode, so SSB and FM are both recorded -- both are permitted -- and AM sits in submodes because it has no token in this catalog. FT8/FT4 is a separate scored section. No log deadline is stated on the page.

Something wrong? How to report it — a link to the sponsor's own page is all it takes.

Take it with you

Add to Google Calendar Subscribe (iCal)This record as JSON

Add to Google Calendar puts the next running in as a single event. It is one event, not a subscription — come back for the one after it, or use the feed below.

Subscribe (iCal) carries this contest's runnings for the next twelve months as UTC instants and keeps them current. Apple Calendar, Outlook and Thunderbird take this address directly. Its identifiers are stable across deploys, so re-subscribing does not duplicate anything: https://contestclock.com/api/ics?id=wia-australia-day

Google has no working one-click subscribe. Paste that address into Settings → Add calendar → From URL. Google then polls it on its own schedule, often 8–24 hours, and that cannot be forced — so use Add to Google Calendar above if you want the next running in your calendar now.