A guide to some of the Days of Religious Significance that people may request to take leave in 2010

January 2010	February 2010	March 2010
April 2010	May 2010	June 2010
July 2010	August 2010	September 2010
October 2010	November 2010	December 2010

Note:The following list is not a comprehensive list of all days of religious observance, but a guide to assist managers in accommodating the needs of employees. Supervisors have the flexibility to approve an employees request for leave for religious reasons irrespective of whether the date is listed or not.

The Islamic days may adjust one or two days either side of the dates subject to the lunar cycle, the Jewish days commence at sunset the previous day.

January

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Circumcision of the Lord and New Year	Syrian Orthodox
5	Gurpurab - Birth of Guru Gobindh Singh	Sikh
6	Epiphany of Our Lord	Christian, Certain Orthodox Christian including Syrian, Greek, Serbian
6	Epiphany	Chaldean and Maronite Catholic
6	Christmas	Armenian Christian
7	Christmas or Nativity Feast	Certain Orthodox Christian including Russian, Serbian
14	Makar Sakranti	Hindu
14	Orthodox New Year	Orthodox Christian
19	Epiphany	Serbian and Coptic Orthodox
20	Vasant Panchami	Hindu
25-27	Rocation	Chaldean Catholic
27	St Sava's Day	Serbian Orthodox
30	Festival of Sadeh or Jashn-E Sadeh	Zoroastrian

February

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1-20	Losar Tibetan New Year	Buddhist - Tibetan
8	Parinibanna or Nirvana Day the anniversary of Buddhas passing away (Mahayana tradition)	Buddhist - Mahayana tradition. Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Vietnam
9	St Maroun	Maronite Catholic
11	St Vartnan's Day	Armenian Christian
12	Maha Shivaratri	Hindu
14	Lunar New Year	Buddhist (Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese)
15 (alternative date)	Parinibanna or Nirvana Day the anniversary of Buddha's passing away (Mahayana tradition)	Buddhist - Mahayana tradition. Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Vietnam
15	Clean Monday (Great Lent or Ash Monday)	Coptic Orthodox, Maronite Catholic, Western Christian
16	Shrove Tuesday	Western Christian
17	Ash Wednesday (Lent begins)	Western Christian
25	Mawlid an Nabi (Prophet Muhammad Birth) 12 of Rabi^ul-Awwal	Islam
28	Magha Puja or Meak Bochea Day (Sangha Day)	Buddhist -Cambodia, Thai, Laos, Burma
28	Holi (begins)	Hindu

March

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Holi	Hindu
2-20	Baha'i fasting begins	Baha'i
10	Mid of the Great Lent, Lifting up th Holy Cross, Feast of King Abgar of Eddessa and Syriac Martyrs' Day	Orthodox Christian
14	Hola Mahala Festival	Sikh
16	Hindi New Year	Hindu
17	St Patrick's Day	Western Christian
20	Baha'i fasting ends	Baha'i
21	Jamshidi Nowruz (New Year)	Baha'i, Zoroastrian
24	Ramanavami	Hindu
25	Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary	Western Christian, Maronite Catholic
26	Birth of Zaroshtra	Zoroastrian
26	Last Friday of Lent	Orthodox Christian
28	Palm Sunday	Eastern Orthodox Christian, Maronite Catholic
29	Hanuman Jayanti (begins)	Hindu
30	Hanuman Jayanti (celebrates)	Hindu
30	Passover 1	Jewish
30	Memorial of Jesus Christ's Death	Jehovah's Witness
31	Passover 2	Jewish

April

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Holy (Maundy) Thursday	Orthodox Christian, Western Christian, Maronite Catholic
2	Good Friday (Holy Friday)	All Christians - Western & Armenian Christian, Maronite Catholic and Orthodox Christian
3	Easter Saturday (Holy Saturday)	All Christians - Western & Armenian Christian, Maronite Catholic and Orthodox Christian
4	Easter Sunday	Western & Armenian Christian, Maronite Catholic and Orthodox Christian
5	Passover 7	Jewish
5	Easter Monday	Western & Armenian Christian, Maronite Catholic
6	Passover 8	Jewish
7	Annunciation Feast	Coptic Orthodox
13-15	Theravada New Year	Buddhist - Cambodia, Thai, Laos, Burma
14	Vaisakhi, Khalsa Day	Sikh
21	First day of Ridvan	Baha'i
29	Ninth day of Ridvan	Baha'i

May

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
2	Twelfth day of Ridvan	Baha'i
13	Ascension of the Lord	Western Christian, Maronite Catholic, Orthodox Christian
19	Shavuot 1	Jewish
20	Shavuot 2	Jewish
21	Vesak Day or Visakha Puja (Buddha Day)	Buddhist - Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thai, Laos, Burma
23	Declaration of the Bab	Baha'i
23	Pentecost (Whit Sunday)	Western Christian, Maronite Catholic and Orthodox Christian
24	Whit Monday	Western Christian, Maronite Catholic
27	Buddha Purnima	Hindu
29	Ascension of Baha'u'llah	Baha'i
30	Trinity Sunday	Western Christian
30	All Saints	Coptic Orthodox

June

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
3	Corpus Christ or The Body and Blood of Christ	Chaldean, Western Christian
16	Martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev	Sikh

July

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Festival of Tirgan or Jashn-E-Tirgan	Zoroastrian
3	St Thomas the Apostle Day	Chaldean Catholic
Jul - Sept	District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses (For Sydney Friday 6 August to Sunday 8 August)	Jehovah's Witness
8	Night of Isra & Mi^raj ( 27 Rajab )	Islam
9	Martyrdom of the Bab	Baha'i
12	Apostle's Feast	Coptic Orthodox
13-15	Ulambana or Obon	Buddhist (Mahayana) Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Vietnam
25	Guru Purnima	Hindu
26	15th of Sha^ban	Islam
26	Asalha (Dharma Day )	Buddhist Cambodia, Thai, Laos, Burma

August

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
6	Transfiguration	Chaldean, Western Catholic, Certain Orthodox Christian
6-8	District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses (Sydney)	Jehovah's Witness
8	Sayuban ( Sayran ) Ramadan	Islam
10	Ramadan begins	Islam
15	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	Western Christian, Maronite Catholic, Certain Orthodox Christian
15	Dormition of the Theotokos	Greek Orthodox
19	Shahenshahi Nowruz (New Year)	Zoroastrian
19	Transfiguration	Coptic Orthodox
22	Assumption of St. Mary's body	Coptic Orthodox
28	Raksha Bandhan	Hindu

September

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Guru Garnth Sahib Opening Day of Holy Book	Sikh
2	Krishna Janmashthami	Hindu
4	Night of Al-Qadr ( 27 of Ramadan )	Islam
9	Eidul Fitr (End of Ramadan)	Islam
9	Rosh Hashanah 1	Jewish
10	Rosh Hashanah 2	Jewish
10	2nd of Shawaal	Islam
11	El Nayrouz (Coptic New Year)	Coptic Orthodox
11	Ganesh Chaturthi	Hindu
14	Holy Cross Day	Chaldean Catholic, Certain Orthodox Christian
18	Yom Kippur (Yizkor)	Jewish
23	Succot 1	Jewish
24	Succot 2	Jewish
24-7/10	Pitr-paksha	Hindu
30	Shemini Atzeret	Jewish

October

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	Simchat Torah	Jewish
2	Festival of Mehregan or Jashn-E Mehregan	Zoroastrian
8-16	Navaratri	Hindu
10	St Translator's Day	Armenian Christian
14	Saraswati Puja	Hindu
17	Saraswati Puja	Hindu
20	Birth of the Bab	Baha'i
20	Gurugaddi Day of Guru Granth	Sikh
24	Pavarana Day (Sangha Day)	Buddhist (Theravada)

November

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
1	All Saint's Day	Catholic Christian
2	All Souls Day	Catholic Christian
2	Birth Day of Guru Nanak Dev	Sikh
5	Deepavali (Diwali)	Hindu
6	Vikram New Year 2067	Hindu
12	Birth of Baha'u'llah	Baha'i
15	Day of Arafat (Hajj pilgrimage 9th of Dhul-Hijjah)	Islam
16	Eidul Adha (10th of Dhul-Hijjah)	Islam
17	1st day of Ramyul jamarat ((Pilgrimage )	Islam
18	2nd day of Ramyul jamarat (Pilgrimage )	Islam
19	End of Hajj (Pilgrimage)	Islam
24	Martyrdom Day of Guru Teg Bahadur	Sikh
25	Advent begins	Coptic Orthodox
28	St Tadeos and Bartholomew Day	Armenian Christian
28	Advent begins	Western Christian

December

Date	Day of Religious Significance	Religion
7	Islamic New Year ( Hijrah )	Islam
8	Bodhi Day	Buddhist - Japan
16	Ashura ( 10th of Muharram )	Islam
25	Christmas	Christian, Orthodox Christian, Maronite Catholic
26	Death of Zaroshtra	Zoroastrian