Why thousands get an extra day off today in one Aussie state
Thousands of people in one Australian state are having an extra-long Easter weekend today, as the rest of the country returns to work.
"Easter Tuesday" is a registered public holiday in Tasmania only - but it doesn't apply to everybody.
Typically, the holiday is only for public servants.
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Tasmania gets an extra Easter public holiday on Tuesday. Getty Images/iStockphoto
It can serve as a public holiday in other parts of Australia, usually as a substitute for Easter Monday or Good Friday if one of the dates happens to collide with April 25 - Anzac Day.
The reason for Tasmania's annual special treatment is that the state doesn't mark Easter Sunday as a public holiday.
In some forms of Western Christianity - including Catholicism - every day this week is properly prefixed with "Easter", to form "Easter Week", the start of Eastertide, an extended celebration of Jesus' resurrection.
It can last 40 to 50 days.
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