The state government has agreed to authorise an exemption to allow shops in the city and suburbs to open on September 22, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared it a National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.

Retailers will be allowed to trade between 12pm and 9pm – similar to Anzac Day – as a mark of respect for the Queen who died on Friday aged 96.

The one-off exemption to the Shop Trading Hours Act was approved by state cabinet this morning.

“We think that strikes the appropriate balance between marking the respect of the occasion, but also allowing the function of stores to be able to continue to trade and the impact that a closure would have at such short notice on both staff and retailers alike,” Premier Peter Malinauskas said.

“It’s been 70 years since this last occurred and the government is seeking to get the right balance.”

Workers will be paid their usual public holiday penalty rates.

Banks and childcare centres will shut, while GPs have been given the choice to stay open if they wish.

Schools will also close, with all extracurricular activities and school events to be cancelled.

The 22nd of September will be a one-off public holiday in South Australia, for a National Day of Mourning as announced by the Prime Minister yesterday.

Given the unavoidably late notice of this decision there will be some disruption for some South Australians. pic.twitter.com/lrR3HG1JeD

— Peter Malinauskas (@PMalinauskasMP) September 12, 2022

“As a parent, I acknowledge that this doesn’t come without its inconvenience,” Malinauskas said.

“I think every parent around the state will now be busily trying to work out their arrangements, particularly those people that have to continue to work.

“But, that’s of course one of the reasons why schools have been closed because they, of course, employ teachers, so there are difficult arrangements here.”

Public hospitals will remain open, but SA Health is still trying to finalise arrangements for patients who have elective surgeries booked on September 22.

Malinauskas said the closure of schools and childcare centres would impact health workers’ ability to go to work.

“The Health Department is actively working as quickly as possible to facilitate as many elective surgeries that can be undertaken given the difficult and unusual circumstances,” he said.

“We’re asking patients who do have elective surgeries booked for Thursday the 22^nd of September to not contact hospitals until Friday this week.

“It will take a few days to work out exactly how many elective surgeries can go ahead given the different staffing arrangements that will be in place on a public holiday, but we intend to have those arrangements established by Friday of this week.”

Malinauskas said he did not know how many public hospital elective surgeries were booked on September 22 or what percentage would go ahead.

He said it would be up to individual GP clinics and allied health professionals to choose whether they open on the public holiday, noting the government would encourage disruption to be minimised.

Meanwhile, state parliament will sit on Tuesday September 20 to deal exclusively with condolence motions.

Parliament will then adjourn until the end of the 14-day observance period.

To make up for the lost sitting days, Malinauskas said the government and opposition had agreed to hold replacement sitting days on Tuesday September 27 and Wednesday September 28.

“There is work to do to get laws passed, but it’s also an important function for the opposition to be able to hold the government to account particularly through the procession of question time,” he said.

Albanese declared September 22 a National Day of Mourning over the weekend, saying it would be a holiday to coincide with a memorial service for the Queen.

The memorial will be held after Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley return from London to attend the Queen’s funeral.

Malinauskas said between 7000 to 8000 people attended the proclamation for King Charles III out the front of Parliament House on Sunday.

He said he was “absolutely rapt with the size of the crowd”.

“The public display of affection through people taking the time to witness such a historic event was not lost on the government, including the Governor,” he said.