Melbourne councils backing Australia Day to welcome new citizens

Melbourne councils are overwhelmingly backing Australia Day this year, ignoring the Albanese government’s call allowing them to scrap citizenship ceremonies on January 26.

Melbourne councils are overwhelmingly backing Australia Day this year, planning to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26. Picture: Dennis Manktelow

Melbourne councils are overwhelmingly backing Australia Day this year, ignoring the Albanese government’s call allowing them to scrap citizenship ceremonies on January 26.

Of the 31 councils in metropolitan Melbourne, 28 have chosen to mark the national day by swearing in new Australians, ignoring trendy inner-north areas of Darebin, Merri-bek and Yarra, which scrapped January 26 events as a protest over the treatment of Indigenous Australians.

The resistance by councils in the nation’s most progressive city to dumping Australia Day comes as some Indigenous activists push back against a long-running focus on changing the date.

Most councils in the Victorian capital have stated on their websites they will hold a citizenship ceremony on January 26 this year, bar the councils of Bayside, Brimbank and Yarra Ranges.

But The Weekend Australian has confirmed these three municipalities will host a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day.

In recent weeks, Aboriginal leaders such as Uluru Dialogues chair Meghan Davis have said the Australia Day debate is a distraction from priorities such as the upcoming referendum for a constitutional voice to parliament.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles last month announced the federal government would “remove red tape” and allow councils to hold Australia Day citizenship ceremonies on or around the national day, essentially overturning rules introduced in 2019 by former prime minister Scott Morrison requiring councils to hold ceremonies on Australia Day.

But Mr Giles said there remained a “strong expectation” councils would conduct ceremonies on January 26.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

“For those who have joined our great Australian community from all corners of the world, becoming a citizen is an unforgettable occasion to be treasured forever,” he said on December 16.

“The Australian government implores councils to have new citizens as their key focus, recognising many community members want to complete their journey to Australian citizenship in connection with Australia Day.”

Councils may have had no choice but to carry on with citizenship ceremonies booked for Australia Day, with meetings unlikely between December 16 and January 26.

But special meetings can be called to address urgent issues.

In 2017, Yarra and Darebin councils voted to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day, with Darebin saying its decision was “out of respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities” and Yarra saying it “acknowledged the trauma this day caused for many in the Aboriginal community”.

But the federal government led by Malcolm Turnbull subsequently revoked both councils’ right to hold citizenship ceremonies altogether.

New Australian citizens welcomed at an Australia Day citizenship ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Merri-bek followed suit on December 13 – three days before Mr Giles announced the amendments to the Australian Citizenship Code – when councillors voted to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on January 26.

It has selected January 24 as the day it will conduct a ceremony.

While Darebin had its right to conduct citizenship ceremonies reinstated by the federal government in December, the council is yet to decide if it will even hold a ceremony in the days either side of Australia Day this year.

A Darebin spokeswoman said councillors had “agreed to seek involvement from the Traditional Owners and the Darebin Aboriginal Advisory Committee in the formation and delivery of any future citizenship ceremonies”.

But The Weekend Australian understands that due to council staff being on leave, it is unlikely a decision will be made in time for a ceremony to take place.