Australia Day debate
is Australia's national day, marking the landing of the First Fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, and the raising of the British Union Jack, in 1788. After the federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, the official recognition and dates of Australia Day by that name, and its corresponding holiday, emerged gradually. Further alternations and alternatives have been proposed for debate, but none officially agreed to or adopted.
26 January was previously recognised by different names and as a regionally-specific date lacking national recognition. Historically, "Australia Day" public holidays were held on different dates around Australia, with the first being designated as Friday 30 July 1915, as fundraising for the First World War effort.
There have also been proposals to institute a second day specifically for Indigenous Australians in addition to the existing date, which is often referred to as Invasion Day by opponents. Polling has shown a marked shift towards support for a change of date or second day of celebration since 2000, though around two thirds of respondents in recent years have supported the existing date. Various proposals for the name and date of a new holiday have been put forward.
Reasons for alternative dates
Both before the establishment of Australia Day as the national day of Australia, and in the years after its creation, several dates have been proposed for its celebration and, at various times, the possibility of moving Australia Day to an alternative date has been mooted. Some reasons put forward are that the current date, celebrating the foundation of the Colony of New South Wales, lacks national significance; that the day falls during school holidays which limits the engagement of schoolchildren in the event; and that it fails to encompass members of the Indigenous community and some others who perceive the day as commemorating the date of an invasion of their land. Connected to this is the suggestion that moving the date would be seen as a significant symbolic act.Some Australians regard Australia Day as a symbol of the adverse impacts of British settlement on Australia's Indigenous peoples.
In 1888, prior to the first centennial anniversary of the First Fleet landing on 26 January 1788, New South Wales premier Henry Parkes was asked about inclusion of Aboriginal people in the celebrations. He replied: "And remind them that we have robbed them?"
Responses
Protests
The celebrations in 1938 were accompanied by an Aboriginal Day of Mourning.The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established outside Old Parliament House, Canberra, on Australia Day in 1972, and celebrated 50 years of existence in 2022.
A large gathering of Aboriginal people in Sydney in 1988 led an "Invasion Day" commemoration marking the loss of Indigenous culture. Some Indigenous figures and others continue to label Australia Day as "Invasion Day", and protests occur almost every year, sometimes at Australia Day events.
Thousands of people participate in protest marches in capital cities on Australia Day. Estimates for the 2018 protest in Melbourne ranged in the tens of thousands, and around 80,000 in 2019, when rallies were also held across the country.
Political responses
A move to change the date would have to be made by a combination of the Australian federal and state governments, and has thus far lacked sufficient political and public support.In 2001, Prime Minister John Howard stated that he acknowledged Aboriginal concerns with the date, but that it was nevertheless a significant day in Australia's history, and should therefore be retained. In 2009, in response to Mick Dodson's suggestion to reopen the debate, prime minister Kevin Rudd refused to do so, and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull agreed; however both supported the right of Australians to raise the issue. Also in that year, at state level, NSW premier Nathan Rees and Queensland premier Anna Bligh opposed a change.
In 2018, prime minister Scott Morrison rejected moving Australia Day, proposing the addition of another day for Indigenous Australians instead. Frontbencher Ken Wyatt supported the proposal, suggesting establishing it on a day during NAIDOC Week in July.
In January 2023, Queensland LNP MP Henry Pike drafted a bill that would keep Australia Day on 26 January.
On Australia Day 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the date would not be changed any time soon. He did not suggest an alternative.
Local councils
In June 2017 the annual National General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association voted by a slim majority for councils to consider how to lobby the federal government for a date change. In August 2017 the council of the City of Yarra, in Melbourne, resolved unanimously that it would no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on 26 January and stop referring to it as Australia Day, instead holding an event acknowledging Aboriginal culture and history; the City of Darebin soon followed suit. The federal government immediately deprived the councils of their powers to hold citizenship ceremonies.On 13 January 2019 prime minister Scott Morrison announced that, with effect from Australia Day 2020, all local councils would be required to hold citizenship ceremonies on and only on 26 January and 17 September. The Inner West Council was the first local authority in Sydney to end Australia Day celebrations, from 2020, while in February 2021 the City of Mitcham became the first local council in South Australia to officially oppose the date of Australia Day.
Following [|the decision] by Woolworths, Big W and Aldi not to stock extra items for Australia Day, Fairfield City Council in Sydney resolved to provide free Australia Day merchandise to residents.
Commercial responses
In 2023, retail chain Kmart stopped selling Australia Day merchandise, as did Woolworths, Big W and Aldi in 2024, with Woolworths citing a decline in demand and noting that it sells Australian flags all year round. The decision by Woolworths caused some controversy, with opposition leader Peter Dutton calling for a boycott of Woolworths, and vandalism to two stores in Brisbane. The company's CEO noted that the company was not attempting to "cancel" the holiday.Woolworths Group, owning Woolworths supermarkets and Big W, announced in January 2025 that they would once again sell merchandise for Australia Day and that the national holiday would be celebrated in store. Furthermore, in 2024 the company began stocking the Australian National Flag and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags for the entire year.
Social media responses
Australian celebrities, Australian politicians and Australian political lobby groups have used their influential social media presences to voice support and opposition to changes to Australia day.A crowdfunded political satire parody advertisement from The Juice Media was distributed via social media in early 2017 in support of changes to Australia Day was subsequently distributed via news media. This advertisement was the subject of a study which analysed the degree of polarisation in comments published in response by proponents and opponents of changes to Australia Day. Opponents of changes to Australia Day were found by this study to have a significantly higher level of hostility than proponents in their social media interaction with the parody advertisement. On other measures of identification, position certainty and anxiety, no significant differences were found between proponents and opponents.
In early 2024, Coalition politicians and supporting lobby groups in opposition of changes to Australia Day had funded an overwhelming majority of social media advertisements relating to the Australia Day debate. Australian Labor Party politicians have accused coalition politicians of inciting a culture war and in 2025, attempting to further politicise the Australia Day debate in the lead up to the 2025 Australian federal election.
Other responses
Among those calling for change have been Tony Beddison, then chairman of the Australia Day Committee, who argued for change and requested debate on the issue in 1999; and Mick Dodson, Australian of the Year in 2009, who called for debate as to when Australia Day was held.In 2016, National Indigenous Television chose the name "Survival Day" as its preferred choice on the basis that it acknowledges the mixed nature of the day, saying that the term "recognises the invasion", but does not allow that to frame the entire story of the Aboriginal people.
The anniversary is also termed by some as "Survival Day" and marked by events such as the Survival Day concert, first held in Sydney in 1992, celebrating the fact that the Indigenous people and culture have survived despite colonisation and discrimination.
Suggested alternatives
Abolition
Some people call for the abolition of Australia Day altogether, arguing that any day celebrating Australia celebrates colonisation and Indigenous genocide. In his article, "Why I no longer support #changethedate", Luke Pearson wrote, "You want a day to celebrate Australia. I want an Australia that's worth celebrating."1 January (Federation of Australia)
As early as 1957, 1 January was suggested as a possible alternative day, to commemorate the Federation of Australia. In 1902, the year after Federation, 1 January was named "Commonwealth Day". However, New Year's Day was already a public holiday, and Commonwealth Day did not gather much support.19 January (alternative federation date)
Proposed as an alternative because it is only one week earlier than Australia Day and "19/01" can represent the year of Federation.File:Australia_Act_1986.jpg|thumb|Photo of the Australia Act 1986 document located in Parliament House, Canberra