By Sarah Spina-Matthews

Daylight saving is not causing major mental health issues, researchers say, as Australians get set to lose an hour of sleep.

An international study involving researchers from Swinburne University found daylight savings had no clear or consistent effect on significant mental health episodes.

But Swinburne’s Ben Bullock said it remained unclear if clocks moving forward could have a more minor impact on mood.

“One of the strengths, but also a limitation of our study was we looked at serious mental health episodes, so people who are presenting to hospitals,” Dr Bullock told AAP.

“People might already also know every time they transition to daylight savings, we often find a little bit of an effect on our mood or our sleep.”

Daylight saving’s health effects have long been the subject of speculation, amid concerns over loss of sleep as well as the increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.

The clocks jump forward an hour – from 2am to 3am – in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT on Sunday.

In the US, President Donald Trump is pushing to make daylight saving permanent, labelling the twice-yearly clock changes “inconvenient” and “costly”.

But Dr Bullock said the benefits, particularly from getting outside as much as possible during the day, outweighed its potential downfalls.

“Given the fact it’s only a minority of people that are actually affected by daylight saving, the focus should be more on helping the minority of people adjust rather than changing things for the majority of people,” Dr Bullock said.

Adjustments include changing your sleep schedule in the days leading up to the clock shift and getting outside in the sunlight on the first Sunday morning.

“That’s the …strongest way to reset your your body clock,” Dr Bullock said.

“Also just be gentle on yourself, maybe don’t make big plans for the Sunday.”

A world-first study by Adelaide’s Flinders University in 2024 into the long-term impact of daylight saving found there was no significant evidence it caused a loss of sleep.

While it found people could lose sleep in the first few weeks, the impact was no worse than jet lag.

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