Australian Sports Seasons (Annual Sports Calendar)

With hundreds of events taking place throughout the year, we’ve created a list to guide you through all the major tournaments taking place during the Australian Seasonal Sports Calendar.

There aren’t many countries in the world who can say they’re as obsessed with sport as us Australians.

With 80% of Aussies agreeing that sport is a significant part of their culture, there’s no wonder why the Australian sports calendar is jam-packed with events throughout the year.

From cricket to camel racing, Australia reigns supreme when hosting some of the world’s biggest and best international sporting events.

And with each season bringing in a new sport, it can be easy to get lost in the myriad of events going on in Australia.

But don’t fret.

We’ve put together a list you can use to navigate your way through all of the key tournaments taking place during Australia’s sports seasons.

Let's kick things off in spring with the start of the Australian cricket season.

October - November (Spring)

Having been on tour for most of the year, the Australian men’s and women’s cricket teams will return home to start their domestic seasons.

The women’s Big Bash League usually kicks-off the cricket season on the last week of October and is played up until late November.

Meanwhile, Australia’s international cricket teams will also host the first test matches of the year in October and November, with Australia hosting England in the Ashes Test Series once every two years.

Plus, it’s an exciting time of year for soccer and basketball fans. Australia’s premier soccer division, the Hyundai A-League, gets its season underway in October and spans for ten months up until mid-May.

Australia’s National Basketball League also returns in the first week of October. It’s nine teams will compete over 20 regular season fixtures until mid-February, with its finals series following in March.

December - January (Summer)

As we move into the height of the Australian summer, cricket fans are spoilt for both red and white ball action!

December sees the return of the men’s Big Bash League, which runs alongside multiple test matches and international ODIs being played between December and January.

Let’s also not forget the Boxing Day Test Match, perhaps the most anticipated fixture in the Australian summer sports calendar.

January also marks the start of the Australian summer swing, with the world’s best tennis stars flocking Down Under to start their season at one of the WTA and ATP tour events taking place across Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney, and Adelaide.

At the end of January, they’ll then head to Melbourne Park to compete in the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open.

February - March (Summer / Autumn)

But the action doesn’t stop there. With the Australian Open coming to a close at the start of February, the domestic cricket season also comes to an explosive crescendo at the men's Big Bash League grand final in the first week of the month.

February also signifies the start of the SuperRugby season, with Australia’s five best Rugby Union teams going head to head with some of the best sides in the Southern Hemisphere for the SuperRugby championship.

Plus, surf’s up in New South Wales, with the Australian surfing season getting underway at the Great Lakes Pro at Boomerang Beach in mid-February.

The Australian National Basketball League then heads into its finals series in the middle of February, with its top four teams vying for a spot in the grand final which usually takes place during the first week of March.

That’s followed by the start of the Rugby League and Australian Rules Football seasons in mid-March, with the NRL and AFL leagues lasting eight months up until September.

March also sees the Formula 1 circuit head to Melbourne, with the Australian Grand Prix taking place at the Albert Park Circuit, usually around March 17.

April - May (Autumn)

As the change in seasons starts to bring in cooler weather, the events calendar heats up!

Australia’s netball season kicks-off at the start of April, with eight teams across Australia competing for a coveted spot in the Suncorp Super Netball League’s grand final, played in late August.

The World Surf League heads north to the Gold Coast for the Quicksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks Beach at the start of April. The tour then heads south a week later for the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in southern Victoria.

April also plays host to one of the biggest matches in the Australian Rules Football calendar, the Anzac Day football match, held annually on April 25 and is contested between Essendon and Collingwood.

And with Australia’s winter sports season now in full momentum, May draws a close to the end of the soccer season, with the Hyundai A-League final being played usually on May 19.

The World Surf League travels to Western Australia at the start of May for the Margaret River Pro and will catch the ferry over to Rottnest Island for the Rip Curl Rottnest Search in mid-May.

June - July (Winter)

Rugby League dominates the Australian winter sports calendar, with the ever-fiery State of Origin series taking place over six weeks between the first weeks of June and July.

Meanwhile, in Rugby Union, the Wallabies get their Winter campaign underway in mid-June, hosting multiple international touring sides from the Northern Hemisphere each year ahead of July’s Rugby Championship Series.

August - September (Winter / Spring)

Edging closer to spring, the Wallabies ramp up their fixture list, typically taking on the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup Series at the start of August.

And as we move from August to September, we enter finals season for Australia’s winter sports.

First comes the end of the SuperRugby season, with the grand final taking place between the end of July and the start of August.

Next, the AFL finals series kicks-off in September and culminates in perhaps the most prominent fixture in Australia’s domestic sporting calendar, the AFL grand final.

It’s also finals month in the NRL too, with Rugby League’s finest teams going head to head to reach the NRL grand final, played on the first weekend of October.

To make things easier we've put together are quick reference guide below to an Australia sports calendar highlighting the sports of the year. Each sport has the start and finish for the season and big sporting fixtures are noted for each. The table is organised in alphabetical order of the sports.

Every year is set to be an epic year of sport, so sit back, grab a cold one, and watch the action unfold!

Australian Sports Calendar Quick Reference Guide

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