Where Is Santa Right Now? Live Santa Tracker Australia

Where is Santa right now? Our live Santa tracker shows you on a world map. On Christmas Eve you can watch which country the sleigh is flying over, where it goes next and how many kilometres Santa has covered. Before then, a countdown ticks down to takeoff.

Australia is one of the first big stops on Santa's trip. He starts over the Pacific, passes New Zealand and reaches Sydney and Melbourne around 10 PM AEDT on 24 December, then flies on to Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin and, last, Perth around 10 PM AWST. That fits the window NORAD gives: he makes his stops between 9 PM and midnight, once children are asleep.¹

Below the tracker you will find a table of Australian cities, the full route with AEDT and AWST times, the story of the famous NORAD Santa tracker, Google's version, Airservices Australia's role and some tips for getting kids to bed on a summer Christmas Eve.

Live Santa tracker: here is Santa now

Santa tracker

At the North Pole

Santa is getting ready at the North Pole. On Christmas Eve he starts over the Pacific, just before Australia.

1. Kiribati (Christmas Island)7:00 PM AEDT / 4:00 PM AWST
2. New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa8:00 PM AEDT / 5:00 PM AWST
3. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart10:00 PM AEDT / 7:00 PM AWST
4. Adelaide10:30 PM AEDT / 7:30 PM AWST
5. Brisbane and Guam11:00 PM AEDT / 8:00 PM AWST
6. Darwin11:30 PM AEDT / 8:30 PM AWST
7. Japan and Korea12:00 AM** AEDT / 9:00 PM AWST
8. China and the Philippines1:00 AM** AEDT / 10:00 PM AWST
9. Perth1:00 AM** AEDT / 10:00 PM AWST
10. Thailand and Vietnam2:00 AM** AEDT / 11:00 PM AWST
11. India3:30 AM** AEDT / 12:30 AM** AWST
12. Dubai5:00 AM** AEDT / 2:00 AM** AWST
13. Moscow, Turkey and Kenya6:00 AM** AEDT / 3:00 AM** AWST
14. Finland, Greece and South Africa7:00 AM** AEDT / 4:00 AM** AWST
15. Germany, France and Italy8:00 AM** AEDT / 5:00 AM** AWST
16. London, Portugal and Iceland9:00 AM** AEDT / 6:00 AM** AWST
17. Brazil and Argentina12:00 PM** AEDT / 9:00 AM** AWST
18. New York, Washington and Miami2:00 PM** AEDT / 11:00 AM** AWST
19. Chicago, Dallas and Mexico City3:00 PM** AEDT / 12:00 PM** AWST
20. Los Angeles, Seattle and Las Vegas5:00 PM** AEDT / 2:00 PM** AWST
21. Alaska6:00 PM** AEDT / 3:00 PM** AWST
22. Hawaii7:00 PM** AEDT / 4:00 PM** AWST
23. American Samoa8:00 PM** AEDT / 5:00 PM** AWST

The tracker runs right in your browser, no app needed. Can't wait for Christmas Eve? Tap "Play the flight as a preview" to watch the whole trip in one minute. On the night itself, leave it open on the TV or a tablet near the tree so the kids can see when Santa gets close.

When does Santa reach Australian cities?

Santa follows the night west, so he reaches every place around the same local time. Australia has several time zones, though, and on 24 December daylight saving is on in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia, but not in Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia.⁴ That is why Brisbane gets Santa an hour after Sydney on the clock, and Perth three hours after.

Here are the key stops of the whole trip in AEDT and AWST:

He starts in Kiribati because Christmas Eve begins there first: the islands sit in the UTC+14 time zone. On our tracker that is early evening on 24 December in Sydney, so by the time dinner is done at home, Santa is already well on his way.

What time does Santa come to my house?

NORAD's answer is honest: only Santa knows his exact route, but "it appears he arrives only when children are asleep." According to NORAD, he typically makes his stops between 9 PM and midnight.¹ So yes, bedtime really does matter on 24 December.

Airservices Australia: Santa's flight clearance

Australia even has its own flight crew for him. SBS News reported on 24 December 2025 that Airservices Australia, which manages the nation's airspace, calls itself "Australia's official Santa flight management team." Santa gets a pre-departure clearance under the call sign RED-ONE, enters Australian airspace above Norfolk Island, zigzags across the country and leaves near the Cocos Islands at sunrise.⁵

The NORAD Santa tracker: how a typo started it all

In December 1955, a Sears ad in a Colorado Springs newspaper told kids to call Santa. The number was misprinted. It rang on a red phone at the Continental Air Defense Command, and Col. Harry Shoup picked up.²

A small voice asked, "Is this Santa Claus?" Shoup, a strict officer, thought it was a joke at first. Then he played along and had his staff tell kids where Santa was on the radar. He became known as the "Santa Colonel."² When NORAD was formed in 1958, it took over the tradition.⁶

NORAD is a joint Canadian and American command. In 2025 more than 1,000 Canadian and American service members, Defense Department civilians and local volunteers answered calls at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado.³ On Christmas Eve 2024 they logged 380,000 calls.¹

NORAD Santa tracker: how to follow along from Australia

The hotline is a US toll-free number, 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723),³ so from Australia the website noradsanta.org is the easier choice. In 2024 it launched on 1 December with a countdown, games and "Santa's North Pole Village."⁷ It comes in nine languages.¹ NORAD also posts updates on social media and through Amazon Alexa, SiriusXM and OnStar.³

NORAD vs. Google Santa Tracker

Google started its own Santa tracker in 2004, when about 25,000 people followed it. It formally partnered with NORAD in 2007, and the two split in 2012.⁸ That same year, NORAD's site counted 22.3 million unique visitors in December.⁸

Bedtime tips for a summer Christmas Eve

Santa-watching in Australia means a hot night, long daylight and kids who are wired. A few ideas that tend to help:

Wear them out early. A swim, a beach morning or backyard cricket before dinner goes a long way. Keep the house cool. A fan or air-con and light pyjamas make it easier to settle. Block the light. Curtains or a towel over the window help when it is still bright out. Use the tracker as a bedtime clock. Show them that Santa only reaches your zone around 10 PM, so he is not due yet. Leave a cool snack. A cold drink and a carrot for the reindeer hold up better in summer heat than warm milk.

How fast would Santa have to fly?

Spy magazine did the math in 1990, tongue firmly in cheek. With about 31 hours of Christmas thanks to the time zones, Santa would need 822.6 visits per second. His sleigh would move at 650 miles per second (about 1,050 kilometres per second), around 3,000 times the speed of sound.⁹

Kids who ask how that's possible may also be asking a bigger question. Our article Is Santa real? helps with that talk. And to find out who pulls that sleigh, see Santa's reindeer names.

Santa tracker: frequently asked questions

Where is Santa right now?

On Christmas Eve, the live tracker on this page shows which country Santa is flying over right now and where he goes next. Before Christmas Eve, a countdown runs until takeoff, and Santa is still at the North Pole with the elves.

What time does Santa come to Australia?

On our tracker Santa reaches each Australian time zone around 10 PM local time on 24 December: 10 PM AEDT in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart, 10 PM AEST in Brisbane and 10 PM AWST in Perth. NORAD says he typically makes his stops between 9 PM and midnight, once the kids are asleep.

Does Santa visit Australia first?

Not quite first, but very early. He starts in Kiribati (UTC+14), then flies to New Zealand, and the east coast of Australia comes next. Perth is one of the last Australian stops because Western Australia is three hours behind Sydney in summer.

Who tracks Santa in Australia?

Airservices Australia calls itself "Australia's official Santa flight management team," according to SBS News. In 2025 it described Santa's call sign as RED-ONE, entering Australian airspace over Norfolk Island and leaving near the Cocos Islands at sunrise.

What is the NORAD Santa tracker phone number?

1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723), a US toll-free number staffed on Christmas Eve by volunteers. From Australia, the website noradsanta.org is the easier way to follow along.

How did the NORAD Santa tracker start?

With a typo. In 1955 a Sears ad in a Colorado Springs newspaper printed the wrong phone number, and kids reached Col. Harry Shoup at the air defence command. He played along, and the tradition was born.

How do I get kids to bed on a hot, light Christmas Eve?

Plan a swim or a beach morning, keep dinner earlier, close the curtains and set up a fan or air-con. Show them the tracker so they can see Santa is still hours away and that he only stops once children are asleep.

Sources

1. 1CBS News Sacramento: Santa tracker 2025, where is Santa right now? (cbsnews.com)
2. 2NPR: NORAD's Santa Tracker began with a typo and a good sport (2014) (npr.org)
3. 3Stars and Stripes: NORAD Santa tracker on Christmas Eve (2025) (stripes.com)
4. 4Wikipedia: Time in Australia (en.wikipedia.org)
5. 5SBS News: Meet the people helping clear Santa's flight path (24 December 2025) (sbs.com.au)
6. 6ABC7 News: How the NORAD Santa tracker began (abc7news.com)
7. 7WTOP / CBS News: NORAD prepares for another year of tracking Santa (2024) (wtop.com)
8. 8MarTech: Google's Santa tracking tradition and NORAD (2014) (martech.org)
9. 9Spy Magazine, January 1990: Is there a Santa Claus? (transcript) (stanford.edu)