By Patrick Avenell

Thursday 25 April 2013 is the 98th anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’ arrival at Gallipoli, in Turkey, as part of Churchill’s disastrous Dardanelles Campaign of World War I.

To recognise that day and to pay tribute to the men and women that have fought in that War and all other wars, Anzac Day is a public holiday in all states and territories of Australia.

There are different shop trading rules governing when retailers may open on Anzac Day, as listed below:

New South Wales

Before 1pm, stores cannot open unless they meet the State Government’s criteria for an exemption. Generally, this means the store has fewer than two owners and no more than four regular employees. Further exemptions apply for stores located inspecific local government areas.

There are no restrictions after 1pm.

Victoria

Before 1pm, a store must have an exemption to open. The criteria for exemption is having 20 or fewer employees on the day and having 100 or fewer employees in the week leading up to the day.

There are no restrictions are 1pm.

Queensland

All non food and grocery shops must close all day except for independent retail stores, which may open after 1pm. Exemptions to this rule include gambling houses, licensed premises, petrol stations, newsagencies and providers of “essential services”, which otherwise goes undefined. Unless a non-independent electronics store has received its own exemption from the State Government, it cannot open.

South Australia

Non-exempt shops can trade from 12pm until 5pm.

Exempt shops, which form the vast majority of South Australia’s retail sector, are asked to remain closed until 12pm as a mark of respect.

Western Australia

All shops must remain closed all day, unless they qualify as small, which is defined as having six or fewer owners, owning few than three shops, with no more than 18 employees working at any one time.

Tasmania

Retailer or franchise groups with more than 250 employees must remain closed until 12pm. There are no restrictions on smaller retailers.

Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory

There are no restrictions at all in the two territories.
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Anzac Day has become a particularly important day for Australian and New Zealand sports fans, with the AFL and NRL each staging two games tomorrow – some with more tradition that others.

At the MCG, from 2:40pm, Essendon will play Collingwood, while at Westpac Stadium in Wellington St Kilda takes on Sydney from 7:50pm (local time) in the first ever AFL match to be played in New Zealand.

In the NRL, the Sydney Roosters will battle the St George Illawarra Dragons from 4pm at Allianz Stadium, followed at 7pm with the Melbourne Storm versus the New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park.

Patrick’s tips:

Collingwood by 1 point
Sydney by 30 points

St George Illawarra by 7 points
Melbourne Storm by 18 points