City of Mitcham councillors vote down motion to consult with community over Australia Day date change

Residents in Mitcham will not be consulted over their council’s Australia Day events, sparking fury from ratepayers.

Mitcham Council residents will remain unheard after councillors voted down a motion to undertake community consultation around Australia Day events, four months after it voted to change the date of its citizenship ceremonies.

The motion, tabled at the November 19 council meeting was not to reverse the July 9 decision – which agreed to host Australia Day celebrations on the Thursday closest to January 26 – but instead consult with the community, including Indigenous groups, more broadly around the date issue.

It comes after the council conducted a survey on its website in February, asking respondents a series of questions about its 2024 Australia Day Awards and Citizenship Ceremony, withholding the results until Mitcham resident, Paul Mabarrack, intervened – asking council why the results had not been released.

Mitcham Council Australia Day celebrations. Picture: Supplied

In an email to Mr Mabarrack, dated July 9, City of Mitcham community development manager Sean McNamara explained the survey had been intended to gather feedback on the event, and was not intended as community consultation on the broader Australia Day issue.

“[Council] regularly seek feedback from attendees at all major events hosted by the City of Mitcham,” he said.

“This feedback is invaluable in helping us understand how we can enhance our

events to better serve and engage our community.

“These feedback surveys tend to be very specifically related to the experiences offered at the event.

“We generally do not publish these results, but upon consideration of your request we have decided it is appropriate to do so.”

The results were subsequently released by council staff on the evening of July 9, just hours before the motion to change the date of the Australia Day ceremonies.

Mr McNamara said the small number of responses to the survey was also a factor in the decision to withhold the information.

In total, 26 people responded to the survey, with only seven responses indicating they had attended the event.

Mr McNamara explained this was considered “insufficient to represent any particular community view”.

But Mr Mabarrack disagreed, pointing to question nine of the feedback survey which asked respondents whether they preferred Australia Day celebrations taking place on the 26.

Mr Mabarrack said despite the limited numbers, the overwhelming majority of respondents – 77 per cent – said they preferred to hold the celebrations on January 26.

“This should have been enough for council to see the need to undertake a wider consultation within the community,” he said.

“Unlike other councils, like Unley, Mitcham chose not to.

“Indeed, even when the motion was amended to include consultation with Mitcham’s indigenous people, there was still no consultation.

“My conclusion is that council don’t want to consult just in case the community give them the wrong answer.”

A City of Mitcham Council spokesman said they had “received limited community feedback reflecting a range of views, some in support and others raising concerns” since the July 9 decision.

Internal council emails, obtained under Freedom of Information, suggest the survey was accidentally open to everyone, including those residents who did not attend the event.

It was also not promoted across normal channels, such as social media, generally used when engaging in community consultation.