<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> UTC + 10: 00 (year round) </Td> <Td> Eastern </Td> <Td> QLD </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> UTC + 10: 00 </Td> <Td> UTC + 11: 00 </Td> <Td> Eastern </Td> <Td> NSW, TAS, VIC, ACT </Td> </Tr> <P> Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC + 08: 00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC + 09: 30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC + 10: 00). Time is regulated by the individual state governments, some of which observe daylight saving time (DST). Australia's external territories observe different time zones . </P> <P> Standard time was introduced in the 1890s when all of the Dominions adopted it . Before the switch to standard time zones, each local city or town was free to determine its local time, called local mean time . Now, Western Australia uses Western Standard Time; South Australia and the Northern Territory use Central Standard Time; while New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) use Eastern Standard Time . </P>

How many different time zones does australia have