How to fix calendar events showing the wrong date or time after Daylight Saving Time changes in Australia

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to fix calendar events showing the wrong date or time after Daylight Saving Time changes in Australia. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes in Australia can occasionally cause calendar events to shift by an hour, appear on the wrong date, or show conflicting times across different devices. This usually happens when a calendar application, device, or account isn't configured to automatically adjust for Australian daylight saving. The good news is that this is almost always straightforward to fix by checking your timezone settings and ensuring your calendar service is syncing DST rules correctly. This guide walks you through the most common fixes for Microsoft 365, Google Calendar, and Apple Calendar.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Confirm your device's system timezone is set to the correct Australian timezone (e.g., AEST, AEDT, ACST, ACDT, AWST).
2. Ensure "Set timezone automatically" or equivalent is enabled on your device.
3. Verify your calendar application's timezone setting matches your device.
4. Force a calendar sync or restart the calendar app.
5. If the issue persists, re-check the original event and remove any manually entered offset.

Understanding Australian Daylight Saving

Not all Australian states and territories observe daylight saving. DST begins at 2:00am on the first Sunday of October and ends at 3:00am on the first Sunday of April in participating regions.

• Observes DST: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia
• Does not observe DST: Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory

Detailed Instructions

Fix Calendar Issues on Windows (Microsoft 365)

1. Open Settings from the Start menu.
2. Navigate to Time & language > Date & time.
3. Enable Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically.
4. Confirm the Time zone dropdown shows your correct Australian zone (for example, (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney).
5. Open Outlook and click File > Options > Calendar.
6. Under Time zones, ensure the dropdown is set to your correct Australian timezone and that the Adjust for daylight saving time checkbox is ticked.
7. Click OK and restart Outlook.

Fix Calendar Issues on Microsoft 365 Web (Outlook)

1. Sign in to Outlook on the web.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner.
3. Select View all Outlook settings > General > Calendar.
4. Scroll to Time zones and confirm your current zone is selected.
5. Tick Adjust for daylight saving time if available.
6. Click Save.

Fix Calendar Issues on Google Calendar (Web)

1. Open Google Calendar in your browser.
2. Click the Settings gear icon > Settings.
3. In the Time zone section, click Primary time zone and select your correct Australian zone.
4. Optionally, enable Display secondary time zone if you regularly work with people in another region.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

Fix Calendar Issues on Apple Devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac)

1. On iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > General > Date & Time.
2. Enable Set Automatically.
3. Confirm your Time Zone shows the correct Australian city.
4. On Mac: Open System Settings > General > Date & Time.
5. Enable Set time and date automatically using your current location.
6. Open Calendar and verify the timezone by clicking Calendar > Settings (or Preferences on older macOS versions).

Troubleshooting

Events Are Still Showing the Wrong Time After Changing Settings

• Force the calendar app to refresh. In Outlook, press F9. In Google Calendar, refresh the browser or click the Refresh icon.
• Sign out of your calendar account completely and sign back in.
• Remove and re-add the calendar account on your device.
• Check whether the affected event was created manually with a custom offset rather than a timezone. Edit the event and reassign the correct timezone.

Recurring Events Are Off by One Hour

Recurring meetings created before a DST change can sometimes retain the old offset. To correct this:

1. Open the recurring event series.
2. Edit the Time zone field and reselect your correct Australian zone.
3. Save the change and send an update to all attendees.

Mobile Devices Show Different Times Than Desktop

This typically indicates one device is using automatic timezone detection while the other is set manually. Ensure all devices have automatic timezone enabled and are pointed to the same Australian region.

Third-Party Calendar Apps (Fantastical, Spark, Thunderbird)

1. Open the app's preferences or settings.
2. Locate the Time zone or Calendar section.
3. Set the timezone to your correct Australian zone and enable DST support if available.
4. Restart the app and resync your calendars.

Still Having Issues?