The situation in Australia is not uniform, as each of its States and Territories has its own different laws. Historically, shops closed for the weekend on Saturday afternoons, with South Australia being the first state to allow Saturday afternoon opening. Most states now allow Sunday opening for up to seven hours, at least in metropolitan areas.
Certain shops are generally made exempt, or partially exempt, from trading hours laws (including restrictions on Sunday trading) under certain conditions. Shops that are not exempt from trading hours restrictions are referred to as "general" or "non-exempt" shops. Although these vary from state to state, generally speaking, exemptions can be based on one or more of the following:
a maximum number of employees employed by the shop, or staffed at any one time (for example, New South Wales exempts shops with no more than four staff at any one time),
by the floor size of the shop (for example, South Australia exempts shops with a floor space of less than 200m2),
by the type of goods the shop sells - for example, hardware and furniture shops are often partially exempted, while shops such as newsagents, flowers, certain food shops (other than supermarkets) and chemists are often fully exempt, or
by its location, often in significant tourist areas - either by inclusion, or by exclusion - ie. declaring that trading hours outside of designated areas are deregulated.
New South Wales
General shops must apply for an exemption for trading on Sundays and public holidays, which are granted if the shop is "serving predominantly the tourist or visitor trade, significant public demand or operates in a holiday resort area"[6]. In practice, Sunday trading is commonplace, with six or seven hours' trading within the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. being the norm in metropolitan areas. The two Sundays prior to Christmas Day are completely unrestricted.
General exemptions apply for the Sydney CBD, Cabramatta, Newcastle, and other declared local government areas, where shops are only forced to close on Christmas Day. Exemptions are also typically granted on a local government-wide basis; when one general shop has been exempted, other shops will generally be exempted for the same hours in the same council area.
Victoria
Trading hours are deregulated in Victoria; shopping is allowed at any time, except for Anzac Day morning (before 1 p.m.), Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. Victoria is also famous for first introducing round the clock 36 hour shopping before Christmas, even if this fell on a Sunday. In Victoria Boxing Day is also one of the busiest days of the shopping year, and many stores are opened extended hours even if it falls on a Sunday.
Queensland
Non-exempt shops in Queensland are permitted to trade from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the South East Queensland region (including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast), and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in certain coastal towns north of Brisbane. Outside of these areas, non-exempt shops must remain closed on Sundays.
South Australia
South Australia introduced Sunday trading for non-exempt shops in 2003. Non-exempt shops are restricted to opening between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Trading hours are also restricted in a number of "Proclaimed Shopping Districts" in country South Australia, where non-exempt shops must remain closed on Sunday. Local governments can apply to have their Proclaimed Shopping District altered or abolished.
Western Australia
General retail shops in the Perth metropolitan area must remain closed on a Sunday. Western Australia does have exemptions based on size and type of goods sold, as well as declared areas in the Perth CBD and Fremantle that allow Sunday trading from 12 noon until 6 p.m., except on public holidays.[9] Sunday trading outside of the Perth metropolitan area may be varied by application from the local council.
Most recently, voters in Western Australia were asked in a referendum held in February 2005: "Do you believe that the Western Australian community would benefit if trading hours in the Perth Metropolitan Area were extended to allow general retail shops to trade for 6 hours on Sunday?" This proposal was rejected by 59.56 per cent to 37.46 per cent.
Tasmania
Trading hours in Tasmania have been deregulated since 2002-12-01, with shops only being forced to close on Christmas Day, Good Friday, and ANZAC Day morning. Previously, businesses with more than 250 employees were not permitted to trade on Sundays. This restriction can be gazetted by the relevant minister for these shops, but only on the advice of a local council, and only after a referendum of voters in that local government area is carried.
Australian Capital Territory
Trading hours in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have been deregulated since the repeal of the Trading Hours Act 1996 on 29 May 1997. The 1996 act restricted trading of "large supermarkets" to between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sundays, provided other trading hours were not gazetted by the relevant minister. Large supermarkets were those with greater than 400m2 in floor area, and located in the City or the Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong Town Centres.
Norway
In Norway only gas stations and a few shops are allowed to operate on Sundays. For special occasions such as Christmas shopping there are exceptions.
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