🌾 Your Seasonal Hay Fever Calendar

Unlike the Northern Hemisphere, where pollen seasons move in a predictable line — trees in spring, grasses in summer, weeds in autumn — Australia's pollen calendar is a continuum. Overlapping seasons, a huge range of climates, and a mix of native and introduced plants mean many Australians are exposed to some form of airborne allergen for the better part of the year.

🗺️ Why Your State Matters

Australia's grasses split broadly into two families:

• Temperate (C3) grasses — like Ryegrass — dominate the cooler southern states (VIC, TAS, southern WA, southern NSW), with one intense spring peak.
• Subtropical (C4) grasses — like Couch grass, Bahia grass and Johnson grass — dominate the warmer northern and coastal regions (QLD, NT), with a much longer season stretching from summer into autumn.

This is why a single national season doesn't work — your triggers, and your worst months, depend heavily on where you live.

🏠 Beyond Pollen

• Dust mites — the primary indoor, year-round trigger, especially in humid coastal homes.
• Mould — proliferates in damp indoor spaces, peaking over summer and autumn.

🌿 A Common Myth, Busted

Many Australians blame the bright yellow wattle (Acacia) for their spring symptoms — but native wattle is pollinated by birds and insects, not wind, and rarely causes allergic reactions. The real culprits are far less visible: wind-borne grasses, introduced trees, and weeds.

⛈️ Thunderstorm Asthma

In south-eastern Australia — particularly Victoria — certain spring thunderstorms can rupture ryegrass pollen into fragments small enough to reach deep into the lungs, triggering sudden, severe asthma attacks, even in people who've only ever had hay fever. If you have any history of asthma, it's worth keeping a written Asthma Action Plan on hand during hay fever season.

Select your state to see peak allergen months:

📡 Track it yourself

These are independent, external services. Hay Fever SOS does not currently pull live data from them — but they're excellent companions for real-time conditions in your area.

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