National braai day Australia: your 24 September plan
If you grew up in South Africa, 24 September needed no planning. It was a public holiday, the weather had turned, and somebody in the family already had the fire going by eleven in the morning. National braai day Australia is a different animal, because here the date is an ordinary working day, the sun sets earlier than you expect in September, and the fire rules change depending on which side of a council boundary you live on. None of that makes it impossible. It just means the day rewards a bit of forward thinking, which is what this guide is for.
A braai, if you are the Australian friend who got invited and is quietly googling under the table, is a South African barbecue. It is also not quite a barbecue, but we have argued that one out properly in our braai vs bbq piece, so we will let it lie here.
Table of Contents
What national braai day Australia is celebrating
In South Africa, 24 September is Heritage Day, one of the country’s twelve public holidays under the Public Holidays Act. The South African government’s own description is about cultural heritage and nation building, and it makes no mention of meat or fire anywhere.
The braai part is a campaign layered on top of the holiday, not the official name of it. It was founded in 2005 by Jan Scannell, better known as Jan Braai, and his organisation’s account of it puts the aim plainly: to call on South Africans to gather around fires on 24 September, share their heritage and wave the flag. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu came on board as patron of the Braai for Heritage campaign, and is credited with the line that settles the argument better than anything else has: show me one South African who has never been to a braai.
That matters for expats, because it tells you what the day is actually for. It is not a competitive cook-off. It is an excuse to get people who would not otherwise be in the same garden into the same garden, which in a country ten thousand kilometres from home is worth more than it was back in Bloemfontein.
The 2026 date, and the Thursday problem
24 September 2026 falls on a Thursday. In South Africa that is a public holiday and a long lunch. In Australia it is a Thursday, and you are at work.
So you have three honest options.
- Braai on the night. Fire lit by six, eaten by seven thirty, everyone home by nine. It works, it is a school night, keep it small.
- Shift it to Saturday 26 September. Nobody in South Africa will mind, and you will get a proper afternoon out of it. This is the option most expat families end up taking.
- Do both. A quiet fire with the family on the Thursday, the big one with friends on the Saturday. The Thursday one is the one that actually feels like home.
One thing to know about the light: late September in Australia is still standard time everywhere. Daylight saving does not begin until Sunday 4 October in 2026, and Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory never change their clocks at all. So on 24 September the evening goes dark earlier than it will a fortnight later. Light the fire earlier than instinct tells you to.
When to ring home
This is the bit people get wrong every year. South Africa sits on UTC plus two hours and does not shift for daylight saving, and on 24 September every Australian state and territory is on standard time, so the maths is unusually clean:
| Where you are | Zone | Ahead of South Africa by |
|---|---|---|
| NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, ACT | AEST, UTC+10 | 8 hours |
| South Australia, Northern Territory | ACST, UTC+9:30 | 7 hours 30 minutes |
| Western Australia | AWST, UTC+8 | 6 hours |
The Australian standard time offsets are published by the Bureau of Meteorology. What they mean in practice:
- 6pm in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart or Canberra is 10am the same morning in Johannesburg.
- 6pm in Adelaide or Darwin is 10:30am in Johannesburg.
- 6pm in Perth is midday in Johannesburg.
So your evening braai lines up with their late morning, which is the best window you will get. Ring them while your fire is settling down to coals and theirs is not lit yet. Do not try it the other way around; a 7pm braai in Pretoria is 3am the next morning in Sydney, and nobody sounds pleased at 3am.
Are you actually allowed to light a fire on 24 September?
There is no national answer, and this is the single biggest difference between braaiing here and braaiing at home. Late September sits right on the edge of the Australian fire season in most of the country, and in one part of it you are already well inside the season.
- New South Wales. The statutory Bush Fire Danger Period runs 1 October to 31 March, though the NSW Rural Fire Service notes it can vary with local conditions. So 24 September usually sits about a week outside it. A cooking fire in a permanently constructed fireplace, with two metres cleared all round and put out properly, does not normally need a permit, but some councils require one at any time of year.
- Australian Capital Territory. The Emergency Services Agency says the bushfire season generally runs 1 October to 31 March, but it is declared rather than fixed, and it has been pushed back before.
- Victoria. No statewide date at all. The CFA declares a Fire Danger Period municipality by municipality, as early as October depending on rainfall and grass curing. Check your own council.
- Queensland. No statutory fire danger period. Fires are controlled year round, with cooking fires enclosed in a properly built fireplace exempted. Queensland’s fire season starts in the far north around July and moves south as spring arrives, so a Cairns braai and a Gold Coast braai are not in the same situation on the same day.
- South Australia. The Fire Danger Season is declared district by district, and in the most recent declared season the earliest district start was mid October. Late September is normally clear, but check your local council for anything in force outside the season.
- Western Australia. Entirely council by council. Some Perth metro councils run unrestricted burning to 30 September and switch on 1 October; others are already in a restricted period from 1 September. A purpose-built solid fuel braai at home is often exempt anyway, but you need to know your own council’s dates.
- Tasmania. Fire permit periods are declared by area rather than fixed to the calendar, and are typically declared later than September. Not a guarantee, so check before the day.
- Northern Territory. The exception. The Top End bushfire season runs April to November, and fire danger periods covering Greater Darwin and much of the Territory are in force across 24 September 2026. A small cooking fire still needs no permit, provided it is alight only while you are cooking, has four metres cleared around it, is never left alone and is put out completely afterwards.
We have gone through all of this state by state, with the permit detail, in our guide to braai fire rules in Australia. Read it once and you will not have to think about it again.
If a total fire ban lands on the day
It can happen, particularly in a dry spring. The rule is blunt and it is the same one in most states: coals are out, gas is in.
In New South Wales, the RFS is unambiguous that a barbecue burning wood, charcoal or heat beads cannot be used outdoors during a total fire ban. A gas barbecue is allowed if an adult is present the whole time, nothing combustible is within two metres, water is on hand, and it is within twenty metres of a home or in an approved public picnic area. Lighting a solid fuel fire anyway carries an on the spot fine of $2,200.
Victoria’s CFA says the same thing in its own words: you cannot cook outdoors using solid fuel such as wood or heat beads on a total fire ban day, and that covers spit roasts, pizza ovens and smokers too. Gas and electric are allowed with three metres cleared, ten litres of water or a connected hose ready, and an adult there until the fire is fully out.
It is not the day you wanted. But a gas braai with the right people around it still beats no braai, and the wors does not know the difference.
The shopping, three weeks out
The one genuine advantage of planning national braai day Australia in advance is that you can order the things you cannot buy at Coles.
Order early: boerewors (a coarse, coriander-spiced South African beef sausage, always sold as one continuous coil), and any Mrs Balls chutney, biltong or Romany Creams you want on the table. Specialist South African shops get very busy in the week before 24 September. Our state by state directory of where to buy boerewors in Australia and the wider South African shops directory will tell you who is closest to you and who ships.
Buy locally: lamb chops, which Australia does better and cheaper than almost anywhere; chicken sosaties (marinated skewers, usually with dried apricot); onions, tomatoes and a good white loaf for braaibroodjies, the cheese, onion and tomato toasted sandwich that goes on the grid once the meat comes off. Our braaibroodjies with Australian ingredients recipe handles the swaps.
Substitute without shame: anything you cannot find has a workable Australian stand-in, and we have listed them all in the South African ingredient substitutes guide. Nobody at your fire is going to audit the chutney.
If you want the whole thing to look after itself while you talk to people, put a potjie on instead. A potjie is a three-legged cast iron pot that sits directly in the coals, and it is the only cooking method that improves the longer you ignore it.
A running order that works
- Three weeks out. Order the wors. Invite people, including the Australians; the day is better with them there.
- The week of. Check your council’s fire restrictions and the forecast fire danger rating. Have a gas backup in mind.
- On the day, 4pm. Light the fire. You want coals, not flames, and that takes about forty five minutes.
- 5:30pm. Ring home while the coals settle. This is the whole point of the day and it is the bit people forget.
- 6pm. Wors on first, then chops, then braaibroodjies last over the dying coals.
- After. Let the fire burn down properly and drown it before you go in. Spring grass is drier than it looks.
Frequently asked questions
When is national braai day in Australia in 2026? The same day as in South Africa, 24 September, which in 2026 falls on a Thursday. It is not a public holiday in Australia, so many expat families braai on the Thursday evening and hold the larger gathering on Saturday 26 September.
Is national braai day an official South African public holiday? The public holiday is Heritage Day, listed by the South African government as 24 September. National braai day is a campaign founded in 2005 that encourages people to mark Heritage Day around a fire. The braai name is not the official name of the holiday.
Can I braai on 24 September in Australia? Almost certainly yes, but it depends on your state and often your council. Late September is just before the fire danger period opens in New South Wales and the ACT, before the season in South Australia, and undeclared in Victoria and Tasmania. The Northern Territory is the exception, since the Top End is already in its bushfire season. Queensland controls fires year round rather than by season.
What happens to national braai day Australia plans if there is a total fire ban? Solid fuel is banned outdoors, so no wood, charcoal or heat beads. Gas and electric barbecues are still allowed under conditions set by each state’s fire authority, which generally include a cleared area, water on hand and an adult present until the fire is out. Have a gas plan ready.
What time should I ring South Africa on the day? Early evening your time. Six in the evening on the east coast is ten in the morning in South Africa, six in Adelaide or Darwin is half past ten, and six in Perth is midday. Ring while your coals are settling.
What should I cook if I cannot get boerewors in time? Lamb chops. Australian lamb is excellent and cheap, and a fire full of chops is a perfectly respectable braai. Add a potjie for the people who arrive late and sosaties for anyone who wants something on a stick.
