Australia Day 2025 as it happened: Neale Daniher named Australian of The Year, Citizenship ceremonies, BBQs and protests

It was a day of contrasts across the country with citizenship ceremonies, BBQs and protests in full swing.

Australia Day remains a complicated and divisive day for many, including Indigenous Australians, who were among the thousands that took part in Invasion Day rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

For others, it was a chance to celebrate or enjoy a long weekend before the new year really kicks into gear next week.

Thankfully, little violence was reported in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.

For now, we will be wrapping up our Australia Day coverage as our attention shifts towards the Australian Open men’s singles final.

Thanks for joining us.

Thousands turned out for Australia Day across the country. Credit: The Age

Victoria Police estimates about 25,000 people attended Melbourne’s six-hour-long Invasion Day protest, which organisers claim attracted a record number of people.

Police from the mounted branch, highway patrol, bike patrol unit, public order response teams, and transit police were deployed across the CBD to manage the march and the opposing pro-Australia Day rally at Melbourne Park.

Protesters at the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

No arrests were made at either event, despite police having to intervene to separate protesters from both sides later in the day. A police spokeswoman said no force had to be used to separate the groups.

“Victoria Police was pleased with the overall crowd behaviour throughout the day,” the spokeswoman said.

Friends Shaina Mittal, Nalini Harve and Valerie Klingenbeck are spending the afternoon enjoying the warm weather by the Yarra before going to watch the Australian Open men’s final at Melbourne Park.

“We’re just having a really relaxing Sunday with friends out for a picnic, enjoying the sun and just having some delicious snacks,” Mittal said.

Nalini Harve (left), Shaina Mittal (middle), and Valerie Klingenbeck (right) having a picnic by the Yarra River.Credit: Jason South

She said they weren’t celebrating Australia Day per se but rather enjoying the long weekend.

“We’re more celebrating the long weekend, a long week off of work, just prepping for the coming weeks,” she said.

Elsewhere along the Yarra, police stood watch near BBQs as Invasion Day protesters and pro-Australia Day protesters met, triggering fears of a violent clash.

Officers later created a 100-metre buffer to separate the small group of demonstrators.

A police officer watches protesters along the Yarra River while Melburnians enjoy a barbecue.Credit: Jason South

Now to Circular Quay and The Rocks, where thousands of revellers are out in force to bask in the formal Australia Day celebrations on Sydney Harbour

Among those entertaining the masses are two young men dressed in gigantic kangaroo costumes with what would appear to be springs in their shoes.

Rodney Roo and Hugh Roo at Circular Quay on Sunday. Credit: Oscar Colman

The pair introduced themselves as Hugh Roo and Rodney Roo, and attracted a strong crowd drawn by a photo opportunity with the closest thing to a kangaroo in the Sydney CBD.

Hugh and Rodney initially hopped over to a viewing platform in front of the Opera House, before retreating back towards The Rocks.

Among the other Sydneysiders taking in the festivities is Stephanie Bourner, who sported four Australia Day tattoos on her face, a green and gold scarf across her neck, and an Australian and Torres Strait Islander flag in each of her hands.

Bourner was enjoying some shade underneath the Harbour Bridge just after lunchtime following a morning on Sydney Harbour.

Stephanie Bourner celebrates Australia Day on Sydney Harbour on Sunday afternoon. Credit: Oscar Colman

In Brisbane, the Invasion Day rally has coalesced with pro-Palestine displays, with flags and chants in solidarity with Palestinians affected by the Gaza conflict.

Palestinian activist Noura Mansour told thousands at a Melbourne rally that Indigenous Australians and Palestinians had a lot in common as victims of colonisation.

“Days like today – like January 26 – offer us the opportunity of moral clarity,” she said.

Activists at the Brisbane event spoke of the ongoing injustices that Indigenous Australians face, including deaths in custody, stolen land, the erasure of truth-telling, and high suicide rates, while continuing to call for the date of Australia Day to be changed.

Invasion Day protesters and pro-Palestinian supporters gathered in Brisbane on Sunday morning.Credit: Neesha Sinnya

This is despite recent polling by this masthead showing a swing in support for celebrations remaining on January 26, jumping from 47 per cent to 61 per cent in the past two years.

The scenes were in sharp contrast to those unfolding across town at Brisbane City Hall, where hundreds of new citizens were welcomed at a ceremony on Sunday morning.

“For many of our new citizens, this ceremony marks the culmination of a long road to becoming Australians and is a significant milestone in their lives,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

“I’m always touched to hear their stories and that they chose to call Brisbane home because of our incredible lifestyle, hospitality, opportunity, and how we embrace diversity and multiculturalism.”

The Bondi Surf Life Saving Club food and drink stand enjoyed fruitful trading on Sunday, as thousands of swimmers convened in Bondi for Australia Day.

The stand was adorned with Australia Day decorations, including Australia-themed tablecloths, flags and hats, and offered an array of sausage rolls and treats for swimmers and beachgoers.

Gabriel Salzano Caspary, 14, and Billy Crawford, 8, at Bondi Surf Live Saving Club on Sunday. Credit: Oscar Colman

Among the younger helpers were Billy Crawford, 8, and Gabriel Salzano Caspary, 14. Both are familiar faces within the surf club.

The stand’s water supply was exhausted within hours of opening for business, while its dim sum was also one of the biggest movers.

Bondi expects up to 20,000 beachgoers on Sunday.

Police have broken up a small clash between Invasion Day protesters and pro-Australia Day rally attendees after the opposing groups bumped into each other along the Yarra River.

Officers have created a 100-metre buffer to separate the small group of demonstrators, who were making their way along Alexandra Avenue.

The groups were heading in opposite directions after finishing off their respective marches when they came face to face.

There are about 20 people in each group.

Pro-Australia Day rally supporters walk away from the Invasion Day protest after being separated by police. Credit: Jason South

The Invasion Day march in Melbourne is done.

It finished after a performance of Kee’ahn and Emma Donovan’s song Take No More in the heart of the city.

Some demonstrators are moving down to Treasury Gardens, where First Nations music will be played at the Share the Spirit festival, but much of the crowd has dispersed elsewhere.

Organisers who spoke on the steps of parliament suggested this could be the biggest crowd for an Australia Day protest in Melbourne.

Police will provide an estimate later today, but at a rough guess, the organisers’ goal of 30,000 people might not be too far off.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has given a low-key speech at a citizenship ceremony in his Queensland electorate of Dickson, welcoming migrants who have opted to take up Australian citizenship today.

“I do want to say to each and every one of you today, thank you for making the decision to become an Australian citizen,” Dutton said.

“It is a decision that millions before you have made and people who have now created a life for their children, grandchildren and many generations to come, that your parents or grandparents in many cases could never have imagined.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Repeating his view that be Australian “is to win the lottery of life”, Dutton said “as we celebrate the best country in the world, we do so respectfully about our Indigenous culture, but also of our British heritage, and also the great migrant story.In our country, we don’t talk enough about people who have made a tough decision in many cases to leave family or loved ones behind, to leave children behind in some circumstances, to start a new life. ”

He also congratulated Australian of the Year, Neale Daniher, for his work promoting the search for a cure for motor neurone disease.

“Neale is an inspiration to all Australians. What he has done, the philanthropic support that he’s done, even during the most difficult years of his life, should serve as a real inspiration to every Australian.”

Here’s what people around Australia are doing on January 26: