Glenelg Shire Council to stop hosting Australia Day events from 2024 onwards

Glenelg Shire will no longer host citizenship ceremonies, awards and civic events on January 26 from next year.

The decision comes after a month-long consultation process returned nearly 500 responses, 62 per cent of which were in favour of the council delivering a citizenship ceremony on any date between January 23 and 29, but not on January 26.

The same number wanted the Australia Day Awards to be re-branded and delivered at another time during the year, while 59 per cent were in favour of the council ceasing its civic events on January 26.

Mayor Scott Martin said the community had led the decision-making process and the council was simply following public sentiment.

"The community has spoken and council (has) endorsed the sentiment for change for council-led events, citizenship ceremonies and awards on January 26," he said.

"We are seeing changes to the way councils and their communities approach January 26 right across the country and our community have taken this consultation opportunity to voice their appetite for change in our region.

"In terms of the awards and events, details around the re-branding of the Australia Day Awards will be released in the coming months and our citizenship ceremonies will continue to be held throughout the year.

"We confer citizens all year round and thanks to the changes to the Citizenship Code we now have greater flexibility in when we can host these ceremonies.

"Council-led civic events in Portland and Casterton on January 26 will no longer continue, however community-led events can still be held, such as those coordinated by our rural townships or small community groups.

"We thank the community for voicing their views and as a council we are proud to follow the community's direction in this matter."

Meanwhile, after flagging in February that its Australia Day activities were under review, Warrnambool City Council said talks were continuing with the First Nations community.

A return of the once popular celebrations in the Botanic Gardens in Warrnambool now appears unlikely.

The gardens event disappeared during the pandemic and didn't return this year, even though people did turn up expecting it to be on.

"Before the pandemic Australia Day activities were held at the Botanic Gardens however as each year passed fewer people were attending these activities," a council spokesman said.

"Council is continuing to discuss with the Aboriginal community in relation to Australia Day activities."

This year, a citizenship ceremony was held at the Lighthouse Theatre studio on January 26 and the citizen of the year awards presented the day before at an event at the new library.

Mayor Debbie Arnott said she felt this year's events worked well and the feedback had been really positive.

She said she assumed the council would probably follow the same format but perhaps open the awards to more of the public so it could be a bigger occasion.

A Warrnambool City Council spokesperson confirmed that at this stage the council would likely run with an Australia Day program in 2024 that was similar to this year's.

"Although subject to confirmation, this would include a citizenship ceremony presided over by the mayor," the spokesperson said.

"Our citizen of the year awards are now independent of Australia Day and we anticipate presenting these awards some time before January 26."

Southern Grampians Shire Council acting chief executive officer Darren Barber said the council had not yet discussed changing its Australia Day celebrations.

"Southern Grampians Shire Council is committed to engaging with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community within the shire and involving them in the preparation of strategies, plans and policies - as well as the implementation of projects and council activities in a way that is purposeful, representative, inclusive and easy to be involved in," he said.

"Earlier this year, council employed two First Nations officers to develop council's first Reconciliation Action Plan that will provide a framework for us to support reconciliation in our community.

"Currently, we are in the first stage called 'Reflect', which is about committing to starting the journey and having internal reflection about policies, partnerships, and truth-telling.

"A change to council's Australia Day celebrations has not yet been discussed by council as part of this plan. Our First Nations officers are spending time scoping and developing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders, deciding on our vision for reconciliation and exploring our sphere of influence, before committing to specific actions or initiatives."

Moyne Shire chief executive officer Brett Davis said the events on January 26, 2024 were expected to run "as they did" this year.

"A period of consultation around future events on that data will be undertaken once a Traditional Owners engagement plan is finalised in the coming months."

A Corangamite Shire spokesman said the organisation was also in consultation with Traditional Owners.

"Our 2024 January 26 activities will be held in Skipton next year at the Mechanics Hall," he said.

"We are working on two components to the day, an acknowledgement and recognition of what the day means for Indigenous Australians in the morning, in consultation with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, and the Citizenship Awards as previously run in the past followed by a community barbecue."

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