Around the world this day has different names:
Administrative Professionals Day
National Secretaries Day
National Admin Professionals Day
National Professional Admin Officers Day and many others. And it has different dates around the world too.
In Australia radio stations and florists often get it mixed up, but this isn’t entirely their fault. The calendar publishers also get it wrong – taking the date from the US instead of checking with the originators of this special day here in Australia.
The celebration date is set by the Australian Institute of Office Professionals (AIOP), formerly the Institute of Professional Secretaries & Administrators (IPSA). Originally held the last Friday in March, it was changed in the 1990’s to bring it in line with the international celebration of Secretaries Week and the special day – Secretaries Day, held in April each year. The name changed with the change in technology and in the US is now known as ‘Administrative Professionals Day’; in Australia, ‘National Office Professionals Day’, ‘Administrative Professionals Day’ in New Zealand, whilst in the UK it is called ‘Professional Secretaries Day’. Because of clashes, however, with Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays in Australia, AIOP elected to change the date to the first Friday in May.
So, here are the dates, just in case you need to know.
Australia: 2nd May is official date but a couple of states are celebrating it on 23rd May. Please click on the country link to view the breakfasts in each state.
Brunei: April 16
New Zealand: April 30
Papau New Guinea (4th Friday) April 25
South Africa: (1st Wed) Sept 3 (corrected)
United Kingdom: April 23
United States: April 23
Zimbabwe: (1st Wed) Sept 3
You can find out more about this special day here at Secretaries Day.
For Virtual Assistants our day is Friday 16th May and it will be celebrated as a special event at the forthcoming OIVAC. See http://www.oivac.com/vaday.htm
Beverly Mahone says
I thought they did away with Secretaries Day in the US because some women were “offended” by the terminology. They felt it belittled their role in the office since they were required to perform more duties than secretarial.
Kathie Thomas says
No, it was never done away with, just renamed. But so many people still search for that particular phrase, believe it or not, and many still refer to it as that title.
I don’t know that the term ‘secretaries’ belittles people at all – I actually love the term and am proud of it, but I can understand those who might have been put into a managerial role still carrying that title and feeling it wasn’t right.
Whatever it’s called, it’s still celebrated to this day.