Best Meeting Time: Seattle to Sydney
🕐 Live Timezone Overlap: Seattle & Sydney
Seattle and Sydney sit too far apart in time for a comfortable shared working day. With Sydney 17 hours ahead of Seattle, an in-hours overlap doesn't exist under a standard 9am–6pm schedule on either side. Most teams that bridge these cities lean async-first: shared docs, recorded video, and a single brief live call when a decision genuinely needs both rooms. The widget below shows the time-of-day in both cities so you can find the least painful slot.
Time Difference: Seattle and Sydney
Sydney is currently 17 hours ahead of Seattle. The live offsets are Seattle UTC-7 and Sydney UTC+10. Seattle observes daylight saving and Sydney also observes daylight saving, so the offset shifts twice a year if both sides aren't already aligned.
Seattle observes daylight saving time, and Sydney also observes DST. When either side switches, the offset shifts by an hour. The US and Europe also change clocks on different weekends, so for one week in spring and one in autumn the usual offset between US and European cities is off by an hour. Always confirm with the live tool above when you're scheduling a recurring meeting that spans a DST changeover.
Best Times to Meet
Without an in-hours overlap, the practical options are a 7am call from Seattle or an 8pm call from Sydney, depending on which side is willing to flex. Many distributed teams rotate the inconvenience so the same person isn't always taking the early or late call. For one-off conversations, a recorded async message via Loom or a written brief is usually faster than negotiating a calendar slot.
Working Hours Overlap Explained
Seattle operates on America/Los_Angeles (currently UTC-7). Sydney operates on Australia/Sydney (currently UTC+10). The table below maps a standard 9:00 AM–6:00 PM day in Seattle to Sydney's local time.
| Seattle time | Sydney time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 2:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 10:00 AM | 3:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 11:00 AM | 4:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 12:00 PM | 5:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 1:00 PM | 6:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 2:00 PM | 7:00 AM | Sydney outside hours |
| 3:00 PM | 8:00 AM | Sydney just starting |
| 4:00 PM | 9:00 AM | Sydney in business hours |
| 5:00 PM | 10:00 AM | Sydney in business hours |
| 6:00 PM | 11:00 AM | Sydney in business hours |
Tips for Scheduling Across Seattle and Sydney
- There is no in-hours overlap, so rotate between an early start in Seattle and a late finish in Sydney on alternating weeks.
- Both cities observe DST, but the changeover dates may differ. Check the offset around late March and late October each year.
- Watch Sydney's holiday calendar: Australia Day (01-26) takes most offices offline, so plan key meetings around it.
- Send each invite with both cities' local times in the description so neither party has to do the conversion mid-day.
- With a 17-hour gap, default to async updates: a recorded video the night before is usually faster than a 30-minute call at 6am or 10pm.
Public Holidays and Working Weeks
USA runs a Monday–Friday working week with a standard public holiday calendar among the key closures. Australia's major holidays include Australia Day (01-26) and ANZAC Day (04-25). Cross-check both calendars when scheduling recurring meetings: a 30-minute call in one city's holiday week typically gets a much lower attendance rate than the same slot a week later.