Time zone · Oceania
LHST
Lord Howe Standard Time
Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST) covers the unique time used on Australia’s remote Lord Howe Island, which follows a rare UTC+10:30 offset and observes a distinctive 30-minute daylight saving shift—making it one of the few places on Earth that springs forward by just half an hour when clocks change.
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Current offset
UTC+10:30
Standard · +1030
Daylight saving
Not active
Returns 4 Oct 2026
IANA zones
1
1 observe DST, 0 don't
DST offset
UTC+11:00
LHDT · +1h
About LHST
Standard time, with a summer shift.
Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST) covers the unique time used on Australia’s remote Lord Howe Island, which follows a rare UTC+10:30 offset and observes a distinctive 30-minute daylight saving shift—making it one of the few places on Earth that springs forward by just half an hour when clocks change.
DST schedule · LHST · LHDT
2026 Sunday · clocks spring forward
Clocks spring forward by one hour · in 4 months.
One year, two clocks
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The zone that resolve to LHST.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Where LHST is used
One country.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about LHST, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Why does Lord Howe Island use a 30-minute daylight saving shift instead of the usual hour?
- Lord Howe’s small population and unique geography led officials to adopt a 30-minute DST adjustment—unlike most regions—to balance daylight usage without disrupting daily life too drastically.
- Is Lord Howe Standard Time used anywhere else besides Lord Howe Island?
- No, LHST is exclusive to Lord Howe Island; no other inhabited location in the world shares this specific timezone.
- How does the half-hour offset affect international scheduling with Lord Howe?
- The +10:30 standard offset (and +11:00 during DST) creates unusual meeting windows—often requiring extra care when syncing with nearby time zones like Sydney or Auckland.
- When do clocks on Lord Howe Island go into daylight saving time?
- Clocks spring forward by 30 minutes at 2:30 AM LHST, usually on the first Sunday in October each year.
- What happens when daylight saving ends on Lord Howe Island?
- At 2:30 AM +11:00, clocks fall back by 30 minutes, returning to UTC+10:30—effectively repeating the 2:00–3:00 AM hour.
- Why was a 30-minute time zone chosen originally?
- The half-hour offset was adopted in 1899 to split the difference between Sydney (+10:00) and Norfolk Island (+11:00), reflecting Lord Howe’s geographic and economic ties.
- Does Lord Howe Island always observe DST?
- Yes, since 1971, Lord Howe has consistently shifted to UTC+11:00 during daylight saving season—even as neighboring areas changed DST rules.
- How do digital calendars handle the 30-minute jumps?
- Most modern apps now support fractional offsets, though older systems sometimes miss the shift or mislabel events during the repeated hour in spring/fall transitions.
- What’s a memorable quirk about Lord Howe’s timezone history?
- For decades, Lord Howe kept its half-hour rules secret—even hiding the true offset from tourists—to avoid scheduling confusion with mainland Australia.
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