Adelaide City Council to change the day of Australia Day citizenship ceremonies

Adelaide City Council will ditch Australia Day citizenship ceremonies from next year. But it says the move is not linked to strong opinions around changing the date.

Adelaide City Council will join a growing number of South Australian councils moving official Australia Day events from the controversial January 26 date.

Council documents reveal the council is considering moving official events – including citizenship ceremonies and Citizen of the Year awards – to January 25.

The report, to go before the council at this week’s meeting, says moving the events to the day before the gazetted Australia Day public holiday would save ratepayers $5000.

It says the move would “enable citizenship recipients, Citizen of the Year awardees and corporation staff, and contractors engaged to support delivery of the ceremony to celebrate the Australia Day public holiday with family and friends”.

Federal government policy mandates citizenship ceremonies are held at regular intervals throughout the year, and “that councils must hold a ceremony on Australia Day, or the three days prior or the three days after Australia Day”, documents state.

Adelaide held its ceremonies on either January 25 or January 23 from 2014-2019.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison legally bound Australian councils to hold events on January 26 from 2020, before the directive was lifted in December 2022 under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith says there’s strong opinions around Australia Day. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Emma Brasier

Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith said she did not consider the motion controversial but recognised there were strong opinions on the issue.

Dr Lomax-Smith, who was not on the council when the federal government directive came into effect that official events must be held on January 26, said it was a reversal of the previous years.

“Capital cities have lots of events on Australia Day and (it) puts quite a strain on people on public holidays,” she said.

“I know there is a strong view in the community and there are divided opinions.

“I suspect the administration was just putting up the opportunities and the council notes it will go back to the previous days.

“It’s just going back to what happened before the federal government decision.

“I think we always have to think about the impact of spending other peoples’ money.”

Prospect City Council acting Mayor Mark Groote said councillors would vote on Tuesday on a similar motion to change the date of its citizenship ceremony, noting it had not previously held Australia Day community events on January 26.

It follows a three-week consultation period which he said the community indicated it wanted a date change.

“The feedback we received and on consultation with the Kaurna community was that they were keen for the date to change,” he said.

“In Prospect, our citizenship ceremony (on January 26) was just for new citizens, we have not done community events in the past.

“This is considering changing the date for that, and the consultation supported changing it.

“The elected members will consider this on Tuesday night.”

Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker said there would be no change in event scheduling.

She said date changes had been discussed with the council’s reconciliation advisory committee, established 18 years ago, but there had been no request to move it.

“I think in Campbelltown (Australia Day) is seen as a day with a range of meanings and we can have the discussions which are positive for our community,” she said.

“We are a very proactive community as far as reconciliation is concerned, and we value the input of our reconciliation advisory committee we have had now for 18 years, and we have made a lot of progress on reconciliation in Campbelltown.”

Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson said the council’s Australia Day ceremony was “unchanged from previous years” when events were held on January 26.

Gawler, Onkaparinga, Salisbury and Tea Tree Gully council websites all list Australia Day events as being set for January 26.

Marion City Council’s site lists January 25 for events. Walkerville and West Torrens do not have publicly listed Australia Day event dates on its sites.

Multiple South Australian councils have since changed the date of ceremonies, or cancelled events altogether, since the red tape was removed.

Several SA councils have moved away from citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Morgan Sette

But Adelaide held its events on January 26 in 2023, with next year the first to change since the directive was changed.

If the motion passes, January 25 will be the fixed date for official events going forward.

Among SA councils to scrap the date entirely is Adelaide Hills Council, which will not support “any events” held on January 26, along with City of Unley and City of Mitcham.

Port Adelaide Enfield Council hosts its events on January 25.

Adelaide Hills Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom in July told The Advertiser the decision of her council recognised the difficulties of the day for First Nations Peoples.

“For many Australians, January 26 is a day of celebration and national pride – however many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal Australians, consider it a day of mourning,” Dr Wisdom said.

“This is a barrier to people participating in citizenship and award ceremonies, which are by nature supposed to be inclusive community events.”

Dr Wisdom said the council engaged with key stakeholders to better understand the opportunities and impacts of change.

Thousands of people rallied through the streets of Adelaide for a Survival Day march in 2023 amid the national debate on the Voice to parliament.

City of Adelaide will meet on Tuesday, November 28.

Originally published as Adelaide City Council to change the day of Australia Day citizenship ceremonies