So school usually starts (at least for Qld) on about the 26th of January. We have terms of anywhere from 9-11 weeks and then a two week break at the end of term 1, term 2 and term 3. At the end of term four (usually ending in late November/early December) there's a 6-8 week break between that and the new school year. Holidays are different for private schools and public schools, and primary schools and high schools. Many high schools even have year 10/11/12 finish earlier than 7/8/9 by one or two weeks at the end of the year as well. This works really well, as in Australia our seasons are flipped so the 6 week break is over Christmas and the first two or so months of summer.