Australia Eastern & Central 2008 Daylight Saving Changes

Updated 9 September 2008

On 5 October, Australia Eastern (New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania) and Central (South Australia) time zones will commence – harmonising start and end times for each of these states. This will be a 21 day difference in October.

These changes can have a significant impact on business performance if not dealt with proactively. These effects can range from the incorrect time display on the clock, to calendaring problems, to financial and reputation loss if business critical services fail.

This change affects Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office Outlook and other Microsoft, third party and custom applications.  The Australia 2008 Daylight Saving Planning Guide provides detailed guidance on preparing Microsoft solutions in complex environments for changes in daylight saving. Click on the links below to download the document in your preferred format:

What is the impact of Daylight Savings changes?

Effects can range from the incorrect time display on the clock, to calendaring problems, to financial and reputation loss if business critical services fail.  

The 5th of October commences the second window of time zone harmonisation for this year, however, we expect a greater impact in October as the change is 21 days difference, whereas the adjustment earlier in the year was only 7 days.

What is affected?

  • All Microsoft Windows PC, server and mobile devices in the affected time zones must be updated to ensure accuracy of internal time zone tables and correct operation of the system clock.
  • Microsoft Office Outlook calendars may need to be adjusted. Client and Server-based tools are available to automate this service.
  • Microsoft, third party and custom applications which schedule events at future dates should be reviewed to ensure they will operate correctly during the extended daylight saving period. Previously scheduled events may also need to be adjusted.
  • Microsoft recommends that all PC and server systems are updated regardless of location to ensure consistency of operation.

What do I need to do?

Thorough planning and testing for these changes is critical to ensure the change results in minimal user impact, so to help customers prepare Microsoft has developed theAustralia 2008 Daylight Saving Planning document, which details the nature and impact of the DST changes, along with planning guidance to avoid user impact.

What if the systems have been previously patched?

Where servers, workstations and mobile devices have been added to the infrastructure, organisations will need to audit their environment to ensure all systems are patched according to the organisation’s Daylight Savings Plan. 

Where the environment does not have a consistent Daylight Savings Time (DST) patch level, appointments may have been created with a mix of correct and incorrect DST transition dates. Furthermore, Microsoft recommends customers update all systems to ensure consistency of operation, even if none of your systems are in the affected time zones.

Planning for Daylight Savings changes

Microsoft has revised theAustralia 2008 Daylight Saving Planning Guide with learnings from the April transition and additional considerations for the October transition. Download the guideand update your daylight savings plan.