Christmas traditions in Australia, like Christmas in New Zealand, have many similarities to British, Irish, American and Canadian traditions, including traditional Christmas symbols featuring winter iconography. This means a red fur-coated Father Christmas or Santa Claus riding a sleigh, songs such as "Jingle Bells", and various Christmas scenes on Christmas cards and decorations. However, the timing of Christmas occurring during the Southern Hemisphere's summer season has resulted in the development of some local traditions as a result of the warmer weather.
History
The first Christmas celebrations in Australia have their roots in late 1788 and were introduced by convicts of the First Fleet, who arrived in Sydney Harbour early the same year. From the 19th century onwards, the tradition of erecting Christmas trees, the sending of Christmas cards and the display of decorations spread throughout Australia.
Since that time, Christmas in Australia has remained an officially observed holiday and is celebrated as a traditional summer-time occasion.
Traditions in common with New Zealand
The traditional Christmas tree is central to Christmas decorations, and strings of lights and tinsel are standard. Decorations appear in stores and on streets starting in November and are commonplace by early December. Many homeowners decorate the exterior of their houses. Displays range from modest to elaborate, sometimes with hundreds of lights and decorations depicting seasonal motifs such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer, or nativity scenes. Particular regions have a tradition for elaborate displays, and attract a great amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic during the Christmas season. This is despite the longer days, resulting in sunset occurring after 8 p.m. in areas with daylight saving.
Most workplaces conduct a "Christmas Party" sometime during December, but rarely on Christmas Eve itself. As many people take their holidays between Christmas and New Year's Day, and many workplaces completely close for that period, these parties are effectively an end of the year or break-up party and frequently feature little or no reference to Christmas itself. Likewise, schools, TAFE (vocational training), and universities break for summer holidays. Schools typically end in the week before Christmas, to recommence in late January or early February. Following Christmas, many churches will change their evening meetings to a less formal format, while many hobby clubs also suspend or alter their meetings in this period.
In the lead up to Christmas, many businesses and residential houses will be decorated with Christmas lights and arrangements. It is common to drive around of an evening to look at lights from the car, or for families to walk the residential streets to see front yard displays. Some local councils will hold street light competitions, and maps are regularly posted highlighting the best street light displays.
On Christmas Eve, the children are told, Santa Claus visits houses placing presents for children under the Christmas tree or in stockings or sacks which are usually hung by a fireplace. In recent decades many new apartments and homes have been built without traditional combustion fireplaces, however with some innovation the tradition persists. Snacks and beverages may be left out for Santa to consume during his visit, often milk and cookies, or a beer. Carrots are also commonly left for Santa's reindeer. The gifts are opened the next morning, on Christmas Day.
Families traditionally gather for a Christmas Day lunch. Traditions include decorated hams, roast turkey, roast chicken, salads and roast vegetables. Christmas crackers are pulled before eating. More recently, as appropriate to the often hotter weather of the day, it has become popular to serve local seasonal produce such as cold meats, seafood and salad. Similarly, dessert also includes a mix of traditional winter Christmas food (such as plum pudding with brandy butter, fruit mince pies, and trifle) alongside local traditions such as pavlova, and fresh fruit such as berries and kiwifruit. Candy canes are a popular confectionery for the children's table during the Christmas period.
Christmas by Michael Bublé re-enters the album charts every year at Christmas time until the new year, generally reaching number 1 or the top 5. Similarly, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey re-enters the singles charts each year until the new year.