New Year's Eve celebrations kick off across the country

New Year's Eve celebrations are in full swing across Australia, with revellers enjoying early fireworks displays in capital cities ahead of the countdown to 2025.

Tap or click below to see what's happening so far:

New South Wales

Just how long would you queue up for a view of the fireworks?

In Sydney, thousands have been waiting outside designated viewing points from 5am for a spot to watch the fireworks at Sydney Harbour.

Once gates open, people jostle for the best place to sit down for more than 12 hours ahead of the big show at midnight.

At Blues Point Reserve, New Year's Eve revellers queued up for more than a kilometre to snag a prized spot.

The harbourside park offers uninterrupted views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, making it a much sought-after vantage point.

Security teams checked bags and ushered small groups inside before the area was declared full by 11am.

At Mrs Macquarie's Chair, attendees are sleeping, playing cards and reading books to pass the time before the New Year's Eve show begins.

As the day gets warmer St John Ambulance paramedics are encouraging people to keep well hydrated.

Watercraft including catamarans and packed party boats are filling up the harbour to claim their spots in the water.

Thousands are expected to watch the fireworks from the base of the Royal Botanic Garden, where many have been waiting since 6am to stake their claim on the best patch of grass in the city.

They include revellers from Brazil, India, Argentina and the UK who have been spared the worst of the Australian summer, with a comfortable 27C.

The reality of the long day is setting in with many sleeping, drinking and playing games to pass the time.

Rajan Jarabi is holidaying from India and is looking forward to welcoming the New Year in Sydney from Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

To get to the spot, he woke up at 3:30am, took a 4:45am train and arrived at 6am.

"It is one of the most sought-after fireworks," Mr Jarabi said.

"I had plans to come here for a long time."

In northern NSW, 2,000 people will cheer in 2025 at the annual LGBTQ+ Tropical Fruits party.

The festival has been held at the agricultural showgrounds in Lismore over the new year period since 2003, and general manager Alex Torney said it was always a special time.

"We have this amazing creative queer diverse community here in the northern rivers that you may not expect to find in regional Australia," they said.

"We are out here while other major music festivals are shutting down, just showing that our groovy little queer community has the energy and has the vitality to make exciting things happen."

Founding member of Dykes on Bikes Nicole Nobles said she was at her fourth Tropical Fruits, and loving it.

"I've met some beautiful people, really enjoying the atmosphere and people coming together."

Victoria

Melbourne is set to light up the skies twice tonight, with firework displays at 9:30pm and midnight.

Fireworks will be launched from 27 rooftops around the CBD, as well as several land sites.

Pyrotechnician Rusty Johnson has produced Melbourne's fireworks spectacular since 2008, and promised a special night for the whole city, not just those in the CBD.

"We've designed it so not only inner-city people get it, but everybody out in the suburbs can see it, they sit on clifftops as far away as Frankston," Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson said his team had been preparing for the show since May, and said the grand finale would be particularly special.

"The best part for me I think is the finale, when we put up masses of fireworks to say 'we're here', that brings a tear to my eye," he said.

But WorkSafe Victoria has warned Victorians against illegally using fireworks themselves.

It comes after the death of a 19-year-old in Kalkallo in Melbourne's north on Christmas Day, following a fatal fireworks explosion.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said the death showed the danger of handling fireworks improperly.

"We continue to see serious incidents involving unauthorised fireworks every year, particularly over the summer period, and the few moments of entertainment they provide [are] simply not worth the potential catastrophic consequences," Mr Jenkin said.

Muhammed Umam is hoping to watch the fireworks tonight at the Yarra River, where he will be gathering with friends.

"We'll bring some food … and we just eat it there while watching the fireworks," he said.

"It's pretty exciting actually because this is the first time I [have gone] to Melbourne to see the New Year here."

In regional Victoria, Bendigo builder Christopher Power is spending his third New Year's Eve at the north-west Victorian city of Mildura.

The 37-year-old and his sons — Noah and Henry — spent this morning skiing, swimming and "cruising around" the Murray River.

Tonight, the Power family will watch fireworks from its riverside camp.

"And we have a New Year's party here today, this afternoon," Mr Power said.

"There's about 13 couples who come up here in vans."

Tasmania

Record crowds are expected at Hobart and Launceston's main New Year's Eve celebrations, as Tasmanians prepare to farewell 2024.

In Launceston, almost 11,000 tickets have been sold for Beerfest, marking a record attendance.

Organisers of the annual festival say half of those tickets were scooped up by interstate visitors.

The event celebrates local food and drink with Australian dance duo Sneaky Sound System headlining the evening.

Tickets for tonight's Taste of Summer New Year's Eve party in Hobart proved to be a hot commodity, with the event selling out yesterday.

Those lucky enough to nab a ticket will rock in the New Year with the Hoodoo Gurus.

There will also be excitement on the waterfront, as the final boats in this year's Sydney to Hobart hurry to reach the finish line before the year is out.

On the North West coast, sports lovers have come together for the annual New Year's Eve Carnival at the Burnie Athletics Club.

The event will end with fireworks at 9:30pm before a midnight drone show on the foreshore to welcome in 2025.

Australian Capital Territory

A potential thunderstorm didn’t dampen the excitement of crowds in Canberra for this year’s New Year's Eve festivities. 

Tens of thousands of Canberrans flocked to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin for a dazzling 12-minute display at the early 9pm fireworks show.

The bush capital’s midnight fireworks will return by popular demand tonight, after being cancelled last year.

The ACT government said the decision to axe midnight fireworks was due to the 9pm show receiving significantly higher attendance for the past five years. 

But tonight, Canberrans will usher in the new year with a bang once again.

The government has shelled out $138,000 for both shows — accompanied by four celebration hubs with live music, DJs and street food scattered across the lake’s shores.

South Australia

In South Australia, authorities have organised two fireworks displays on the River Torrens in Adelaide, with thousands expected to attend.

Gates at Elder Park/Tarntanya Wama will open to the public at 5:30pm, with shows taking place at 9pm and midnight.

The event is free to the public and will have live entertainment and food and beverage options in the lead-up to the celebrations.

Acting Lord Mayor Keiran Snape said the event could host up to 25,000 people at one time, but it was anticipated that overall numbers would exceed this.

"This is the second year in a row since COVID that we are back here at Elder Park, the biggest space in the city, and we are expecting about 80,000 people throughout the night," he said.

Public transportation across Adelaide will be free from 5pm on Tuesday until 6am on New Year's Day.

Queensland

The banks of the Brisbane River offered the best vantage to take in the fireworks, with tens of thousands of people flocking to South Bank for the action.

Shelbie, Keira and Sienna were most excited to see the fireworks.

The trio said they were all keen to stay up until midnight.

"I’m excited for the loud noises and seeing all the bright colours up in the sky,” Shelbie said.

 Her new year’s resolution is to be more confident and active.

Siobhan Lau and Johnson Choi are looking forward to a big year ahead.

They're ringing it in beside the Brisbane River.

"There's a lot of changes coming," Ms Lau said.

"New job, new house we're moving into. So, lots of new things for 2025."

At Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, Deepa Hariharan said welcoming the new year could be tricky because it also coincided with her husband Ajoy's birthday, which falls on January 1.

"Everything's pretty much closed or everyone's so exhausted with the 31st or New Year's celebration from the previous night, so it's always been our greatest challenge to celebrate his birthday," Ms Hariharan said.

To celebrate, the family has booked a full-day cruise and will stay at a resort on Moreton Island with their two daughters and friends who are visiting from the US.

"So, we're going to have awesome family time and maybe chill out in the pool and have a pool party," she said.

Meanwhile, Precel Laspinas's family will be enjoying the Gold Coast's beachside fireworks show for the first time.

"[Also] a bit of socialising, probably a little bit of karaoke if we can," she said.

But she's also looking forward to reflecting on her resolutions for 2025.

"It's probably the same every year — new year, new me," she said.

Her sister-in-law Amzelle Laspinas said she's bringing in 2025 with new determination.

"We've seen here on Gold Coast, everyone is trying to be fit," she said.

"We're actually inspired to do the same."

In Rockhampton, big crowds will celebrate the final moments of the year watching a bull riding competition held out the back of a 162-year-old pub.

Michael Simpson is the owner of the Great Western Hotel, and is expecting up to 1,000 people from Central Queensland to attend.

"We've got the New Year's Eve bull ride, and a honky tonk concert with a Luke Combs tribute," he said.

The pub hosts professional bull riding events throughout the year, and it's the third time they will hold NYE celebrations.

"Country is cool again," he said.

"Whether it's people that are from out of town, they're looking for something different and watching bull riding is certainly something different."

Thousands of people are descending on Brisbane's South Bank to take in the night's fireworks.

Despite one of Queensland's wettest starts to summer in more than 10 years, the rains have held off and a few hardy souls staked out their positions along the river early this morning.

Braydon said he arrived at 5:30am with a chair, an esky and a book and was waiting for friends and family to join him.

"I've got a couple of sandwiches and a couple of mangoes. I've never been one to camp out for the day so I thought I'd come and have a look," he said.

More than five tonnes of fireworks will be set off for two displays at 7:45pm and midnight.

Project manager Dale Norris said it would be biggest night of the year, and the plan was to "make the skies celebrate".

Among the revellers is Arietta, who said she was hoping to hold out to midnight with the children.

"That's the plan. We've got a lot of snacks," she said.

The New Year's resolutions have already begun in central Queensland, where avid runners set themselves a challenge for 2025 — to run almost 7 kilometres every day of the year.

"We're going to run tonight at 11 o'clock as a bit of a warm up and then at midnight we'll run again to kick off the challenge," Gladstone man Steve Stanhope said.

"It's got to be 6.7 kilometres in an hour — it can't be under."

Mr Stanhope said that particular distance stems from the Last One Standing ultra event.

"Whether I'm coming off night shifts or I'm super buggered, we'll do it rain, hail or shine," he said.

Northern Territory

A wet season downpour has sent crowds running for shelter ahead of New Year's Eve entertainment in Darwin.

Thousands braved the afternoon heat to secure a place under the shade at the Darwin Waterfront.

Six-year-old Maci Budd, from Perth, said her family got to the waterfront early to squeeze in a swim before the fireworks.

“It’s hot and busy, and it’s really fun to swim in the water… [I’m excited for] the light show and fireworks and to be with family.”

Her uncle, Darwin local Allen Young, says he’s grateful to have his interstate family with him, even if it’s in the territory’s infamous wet season.

“Just to be down here with all the families is great and it’s great to have these guys up for a wet season,” he said.

Families came prepared with deck chairs, towels, umbrellas and tarps which came in handy as a sudden storm rolled in, drenching the lawns.

Event organisers said the evening’s schedule, which includes two light shows and two fireworks displays at 9pm and midnight, would go ahead despite the rain.

"All events will proceed as planned unless a severe storm rolls through with a risk to safety," a spokesperson from the Darwin Waterfront Corporation told ABC.

Emergency services are encouraging people to stay hydrated amid the particularly humid conditions.

After the waterfront festivities end, revellers are expected to keep celebrating at pubs, bars and clubs across the city, including on Darwin's main party strip Mitchell Street.

Local police are urging revellers to behave responsibly this New Year's Eve, after the NT recorded its highest road toll in a decade in 2024. 

They have also issued a plea for people not to buy their own fireworks.

Outside of Territory Day on August 30 each year, the sale or possession of personal fireworks is illegal in the NT and carries fines of up to $1,570.

Western Australia

Early celebrations in Perth have kicked off as thousands prepared to welcome the new year along the coast.

Crowds in Fremantle gathered for sunset at beachfronts ahead of several events in the port city after a warm 35 degree Celsius New Year's Eve afternoon.

Groups have been swimming and taking prime position at Bathers Beach for the sunset, while others have been gathering along South Terrace. 

Meanwhile, in Perth's CBD thousands are preparing to catch the biggest midnight fireworks at Elizabeth Quay.

The City of Perth has said the family friendly fireworks at 8:30pm and midnight spectacular will be the biggest central fireworks Perth has seen with an expected crowd of more than 100,000 people.

Melbourne father Ujay is visiting his best friend in Perth with his family and is glad to be starting the new year with loved ones.

"I've got kids and a family and just want to be happy, and for everyone to be happy in 2025," he said.

The outback

At an iconic pub where three states meet, travellers will celebrate New Year's three times.

Cameron Corner is located on the border of Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia — all in different time zones.

Manager Kate Osmon said about 200 people had trekked through rugged country to get there.

"Last year there were four Italian blokes here. They were in Australia for four days, literally to come to Cameron Corner for New Year's Eve," she said.

"We get a fair few people in the pub in the afternoon to cool off, then we have a bit of entertainment tonight before we go down the [border] post."

One of Queensland's most remote pubs will have drinks flowing to ring in the new year for the first time in more than a decade.

Jeff Bambrick owns and runs the Kalkadoon Hotel at Kajabbi, an outback township, about 120 kilometres north-east of Mount Isa in Queensland.

He bought the venue in 2014 after it sat closed for five years.

The Kalkadoon Hotel reopened in 2022, but wet weather meant it could not host celebrations, making this year's celebrations the first held at the hotel on New Year's Eve in a decade.

"It'll be fantastic, it's our first New Year's event since we re-opened the place in 2022, we're usually flooded in by this time of year," he said.

"We're out in the middle of the boondocks, but it's hot enough to come in for a drink, we'll have the jukebox going and celebrate the night away."

Meanwhile, other keen partygoers in outback Queensland will start their year with a bush bash in the middle of nowhere — with the closest town more than 100 kilometres away.

The Twin Hills New Year's Eve event near Clermont, about 10 hours from Brisbane, attracts people from across the country, with 700 attendees expected this year.

Treasurer Angela Fordyce said the event had been going for a decade.

"There wasn't much going on for New Year's Eve around here, so I think locals just came together and said, 'Well why don't we put something on?' and it's grown from there," she said.

"We've got a few of the young locals, they are auctioned off for a date or a day's work."