Time ZonesAbout this time zone
Darwin is one of the 12 time zone areas of Australia. Computers and phones know it by the zone name Australia/Darwin. Its time is UTC+9:30, which means it is 9 hours 30 minutes ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) all year round. The short name used for this time is ACST. Compared with India (IST), it is 4 hours ahead of India.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Darwin does not change its clocks in 2026 or 2027. The time stays at UTC+9:30 all year, so there is no daylight saving time to remember.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Darwin, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 8:00 am4 hours behind | 8:00 am4 hours behind |
| United Kingdom | 2:30 am9 hours 30 minutes behind | 3:30 am8 hours 30 minutes behind |
| France | 3:30 am8 hours 30 minutes behind | 4:30 am7 hours 30 minutes behind |
| New York, United States | 9:30 pm previous day14 hours 30 minutes behind | 10:30 pm previous day13 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Chicago, United States | 8:30 pm previous day15 hours 30 minutes behind | 9:30 pm previous day14 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 6:30 pm previous day17 hours 30 minutes behind | 7:30 pm previous day16 hours 30 minutes behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 6:30 am5 hours 30 minutes behind | 6:30 am5 hours 30 minutes behind |
| Singapore | 10:30 am1 hour 30 minutes behind | 10:30 am1 hour 30 minutes behind |
| Japan | 11:30 am30 minutes behind | 11:30 am30 minutes behind |
| Sydney, Australia | 1:30 pm1 hour 30 minutes ahead | 12:30 pm30 minutes ahead |
The table uses the offsets in force in mid January and mid July 2026. Use the converter for any other date.
Clock time and sun time in Darwin
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Darwin, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 130.8° east. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 8 hours 43 minutes ahead of UTC. The clock is set to UTC+9:30. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 12:47 pm by the clock, not at 12:00. The clock runs ahead of the sun here, which means later sunrises and lighter evenings than the map alone would give. Other places in the zone, to the east or west of Darwin, see the sun peak a little earlier or later. Through the year the figure also drifts by up to a quarter of an hour either way.
How long the day is
Darwin is about 12.5° south of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 December, the sun is up for about 12 hours 51 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 June, for about 11 hours 23 minutes. The difference between summer and winter is about 1 hour 28 minutes, and the clocks stay the same all year.
Office hours shared with other places
If both sides work from 9 am to 6 pm, these are the hours when a call falls inside the working day at both ends. Times are for Darwin.
- With India, all year: 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 2:00 pm in India (5 hours shared).
- With London, in January: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 11:30 pm in London, and 6:00 pm here is 8:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late. In July: 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 9:30 am in London (30 minutes shared).
- With New York, in January: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 6:30 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 3:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late. In July: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 7:30 pm in New York, and 6:00 pm here is 4:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late.
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 3 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 200,000 people between them. People in villages and smaller towns are not in that count, so the true number on this clock is higher.
Cities that keep this time
The largest cities in this zone: Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs.
The clock above uses your device's clock and the time zone rules built into your browser. Rules on this page: IANA time zone database 2026f. See About and data sources.