Time in Cairns, Queensland right now
Cairns is in Queensland and uses Australian Eastern Time. The clock on this page is live, and the times below are worked out for the coordinates of Cairns.
- State
- Queensland
- Time zone
- Australian Eastern Time
- Offset from UTC now
- Daylight saving time
- No, same time all year
- Population
- 153,075
- Coordinates
- 16.9237° S, 145.7661° E
Sunrise and sunset times in Cairns today.
Worked out for 16.9237° S, 145.7661° E from the position of the sun, and updated every minute. On the longest day of 2026 the sun is up in Cairns for 13h 8m, and on the shortest day for 11h 7m.
- Sunrise
- Sunset
- Day length
- Solar noon
- Moon phase
- Moon lit
Time difference between Cairns and other cities.
How the clock in Cairns lines up with the rest of Australia and a few cities around the world, right now.
| City | Time zone | Local time | From Cairns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | Australian Eastern Time | --:-- | |
| Brisbane | Australian Eastern Time | --:-- | |
| Adelaide | Australian Central Time | --:-- | |
| Darwin | Australian Central Time | --:-- | |
| Perth | Australian Western Time | --:-- | |
| Auckland | New Zealand | --:-- | |
| Singapore | Singapore | --:-- | |
| Tokyo | Japan | --:-- | |
| London | United Kingdom | --:-- | |
| New York | United States | --:-- |
Time in places near Cairns.
The closest places listed for Queensland, with the distance from Cairns and their local time. Place data comes from GeoNames. See every place on the Queensland page.
Cairns time zone and daylight saving time.
Cairns does not change its clocks. The dates on the right are when Sydney changes, which moves the time difference between them. Clock change dates come from the IANA time zone database.
- 5 April 2026 Clocks go back 1 hour Daylight saving time ends at 3:00 local time
- 4 October 2026 Clocks go forward 1 hour Daylight saving time starts at 2:00 local time
- 4 April 2027 Clocks go back 1 hour Daylight saving time ends at 3:00 local time
- 3 October 2027 Clocks go forward 1 hour Daylight saving time starts at 2:00 local time
Because the clocks never change here, the gap to cities that do change moves by one hour twice a year.
Quick answers about time in Cairns.
Short answers about the time zone, sunrise, clock changes and neighbours of Cairns.
01
What time is it in Cairns right now?
Cairns is on Australian Eastern Time, UTC+10 all year. The clock at the top of this page shows the current local time to the second.
02
What time zone is Cairns in?
Cairns uses Australian Eastern Time. The Queensland page shows every zone used in the state.
03
Does Cairns observe daylight saving time?
No. Cairns stays on UTC+10 all year, so the difference from cities that do change moves by one hour twice a year.
04
What time does the sun rise in Cairns?
Today's sunrise and sunset are shown live on this page. On the longest day of 2026 the sun rises at 05:40 and sets at 18:48, and on the shortest day it rises at 06:45 and sets at 17:52.
05
How long is the longest day in Cairns?
The sun is up for 13h 8m on the longest day of the year and for 11h 7m on the shortest. Day length changes fastest around the equinoxes in March and September.
06
What is the time difference between Cairns and Sydney?
Cairns is 1 hour behind Sydney in January and on the same time as Sydney in July.
07
What is the time difference between Cairns and London?
Cairns is 10 hours ahead of London in January and 9 hours ahead of London in July.
08
How many people live in Cairns?
Cairns has about 153,075 people, which makes it one of the places listed for Queensland on Time Dates. Population figures come from GeoNames.
09
Where is Cairns?
Cairns sits at 16.9237° S, 145.7661° E in Queensland, about 1390 km from Brisbane.
10
Which places are closest to Cairns?
The closest places listed are Redlynch, 8 km away, Mareeba, 37 km away and Atherton, 49 km away. Each one shows its own local time on this page.