[tz] Australian Timezone Abreviations (Daylight Savings Time) [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[Guy Harris]

On Feb 22, 2013, at 6:00 PM, Peter Stagg <P.Stagg at bom.gov.au> wrote:

> I'm greatly amused by you referring to the page you have as I am Australian and I work at the Head Office of the BOM and my current issue has arisen from the fact that the "services policy" department of the Bureau wants the 'correct' abbreviation to appear on images and within applications on the web site etc.

	http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

"Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)

	...

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST)

	...

Australian Western Standard Time (AWST)"

	http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/daysavtm.shtml

"...The LST zones in Australia are as follows:
	• EST - Australian Eastern Standard Time (+10 UTC) in Qld, NSW, Vic and Tas
	• CST - Australian Central Standard Time (+9.5 UTC) in NT and SA
	• WST - Australian Western Standard Time (+8 UTC) in WA
DST - Daylight Saving TimeAlso known as summer time, Daylight Saving Time occurs when the time on local clocks is advanced forward by one hour at the beginning of the defined period of DST, and returned back by one hour at the end of DST. The exact dates between which DST is to apply can be obtained from the relevant Australian State governments. Within Australia DST across the time zones is generally denoted by:
	• EDT - Australian Eastern Daylight Time
	• CDT - Australian Central Daylight Time"

So you should inform whoever is responsible for

	http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/daysavtm.shtml

that either

	1) they should use the terms mentioned in

		http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

or

	2) they should force whoever is responsible for

		http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

	   to should use the terms used in

		http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/daysavtm.shtml

or

	3) they should indicate that the terms used in

		http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/daysavtm.shtml

	   are what that site chooses to use and are not in any way to be considered the Official Government-Certified Abbreviations for time zones

or
	4) they indicate what site contains the Official Government-Certified Abbreviations for time zones

or

	5) they should indicate that there are no such things as the Official Government-Certified Abbreviations for time zones in Australia.

If they end up doing 1), we should go with the abbreviations in

	http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

and cheerfully ignore all complaints.

If they end up doing 2), we should go with the abbreviations that end up in

	http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

as a result of that, and cheerfully ignore all complaints.

If they end up doing 3), we should go with the abbreviations that end up in

	http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time#daylightsaving

and cheerfully ignore all complaints.

If they end up doing 4), we should go with the abbreviations at that site, and cheerfully ignore all complaints.

If they end up doing 5), we should flip a coin and decide which site's abbreviations to use, and cheerfully ignore all complaints.

(Yes, there is a common substring in all five of those "we should" phrases.  I can't speak for, for example, Paul Eggert, but I would personally prefer to have the TZ database reflect some other entity's authoritative consensus about time zone abbreviations rather than being itself treated as an authority, so that we can force people who don't like what the TZ database says to go pester whichever Somebody Else we're following.)

(Note: I'm not picking on Australians here; if any group of any nationality has an objection to the time zone abbreviations in the TZ database for time zones in their country, they should get somebody in a position of authority to designate their preferences as an Official Standard and put forth the Full Force Of The Law to squash all other opinions as to what the abbreviations should be.)