National public holiday for Matildas World Cup win looking more likely

"If there is a national public holiday for the Matildas it will be observed in the ACT," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

"The NSW announcement is a factor in favour, but a national holiday is strongly preferred."

At a press conference on Monday, Mr Barr said he would prefer a national holiday on the same day everywhere, but getting all the states and territories to agree to that may not be "straightforward".

"All of the state and territory leaders are meeting with the Prime Minister in Brisbane on Wednesday at national cabinet and I'm sure this will be discussed," he said.

NSW has already signalled it will have a public holiday if the Matildas win the World Cup finals in Sydney, Premier Chris Minns said on Sydney's 2GB radio on Monday morning.

It is yet to be determined whether the ACT would declare a public holiday independently, regardless of the national agenda.

A public holiday in honour of Australia's World Cup success is looking more likely as the Prime Minister calls for a national celebration regardless of the final result.

"Regardless of what happens, what we need to do is to have a proper celebration for the Matildas and their achievements," Anthony Albanese said.

"It has been extraordinary the way that they've carried themselves, not just on the field during a game but afterwards as well."

Mr Albanese will discuss the matter with state and territory leaders when they meet for national cabinet this week.

Mr Minns said it would take seven days to gazette the public holiday in NSW.

"There's pretty strict rules in place for public holidays and obviously, we want them to do well, we want them to win the entire thing. I think they've got a great chance of doing that. But you'd only have a public holiday in NSWif they took out the trophy," the Premier said.

Mr Albanese has also flagged the possibility of the country's workers enjoying a day off in recognition of the victory.

He brushed off concerns about the impact a snap public holiday could have, particularly on small business and hospital bookings.

"The world doesn't stop on a public holiday," he told ABC Radio on Monday.

Mr Albanese remembered people were concerned about the cost of the national day of mourning when Queen Elizabeth II died but it ended up providing hospitality businesses with a big boost.

Although Football Australia was keen for Canberra to host up to six games at a cost of about $1 million each, Canberra didn't host any games during the World Cup.

The government withdrew from Australia's bid to host the tournament in 2019 after Chief Minister Barr said the cost of being a host city was too high.

The government has set up a live site in Garema Place for Canberrans to watch Matildas games in the tournament.

On Wednesday night, the Matildas will face England in a much-anticipated semi-final. It's the first time Australia has made it to the semi-final round at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Depending on the result, the ACT government will look into a bigger public venue if Australia makes it to the finals.

More than 4 million people watched the Matildas beat France on Saturday night, and a peak audience of 7.2 million people tuned, in the last 30 minutes, for Australia's 7-6 penalty shootout win.

It was the country's biggest television audience in the last two decades.

If they keep up their winning streak, they'll book their ticket to the World Cup final on August 20 in Sydney.

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Mr Albanese has previously said he would use the next meeting of national cabinet to campaign for a federal public holiday should the Matilda's make it to the final.

"If we're still going and if the Matildas can pull off a win in the World Cup, then that would be extraordinary," he previously said.

"I reckon the states and territory leaders will be under enormous pressure to show that they understand how significant this achievement is."

- with AAP