January 26 – Celebrating diversity, confronting history, and embracing reconciliation

For many years, the public narrative around January 26 has been contentious. With already high social polarisation, the date has increasingly become a political point scoring tool — from local councils to federal politicians to media commentators.??

January 26, the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia, is a day that means vastly different things to different communities. For some, it is a day to celebrate the beautiful country and society we live in. Yet, for many First Nations communities, this date carries profound sorrow — marking the beginning of cultural erasure, land dispossession, and devastating massacres.??

Increasingly, I have noticed various actors using the experiences of migrants and citizenship ceremonies as a political football to prosecute their case about this specific date.??

Following federal reform in 2022 to enable citizenship ceremonies to be held three days before or after January 26, several local councils have opted to hold this important moment in migrant’s lives on a different date. This sparked backlash from other local councils, some in the media, and a recent commitment by Federal Opposite Leader Peter Dutton to wind back this legislation and ensure all ceremonies are held on January 26 — as a point of national pride.??

For new citizens, the date they received their full rights as an Australian is a profoundly important milestone in their lives. But when you actually speak with new Australians about the appropriateness of this date, the response is much more complex. Despite the positive associations with the day, many migrants come from countries with their own history of colonisation and can empathise with the cultural erasure and pain this can cause Indigenous peoples.??

I personally experienced this duality of feelings in 2020 when I received the life-changing honour of becoming a member of the Order of Australia on a day when so many friends, colleague and community members were mourning.??

There is ongoing debate about moving Australia Day to a date that all Australians can celebrate, such as May 9, the day Australia became a self-governing federation or January 1, the date in 1901 when Australia became a nation. In the meantime, we have the freedom to choose how to acknowledge this date. We can choose to accept citizenship on this day, celebrate the arrival of the First Fleet, or mark this as a day of mourning.??

In recognition of this freedom, SSI has joined organisations such as 德勤 , Canva , and Australia Post in extending the option for our people the option to request to work on January 26. Instead, they can elect to swap the holiday for a date that is meaningful to them.?

Making these options available is important to me, and an important part of SSI’s reconciliation journey. In alignment with the 2025 NAIDOC theme The Next Generation: Strength, Vision, and Legacy, we are working towards becoming an organisation the next generation of First Nations professionals wants to work at, while promoting a bright future for all First Nations Peoples in Australia.?

This means creating meaningful employment pathways for First Nations Peoples, advocating for justice and equality, through campaigns such as Raise the Age, increasing procurement of Indigenous business, and holding space for education and truth-telling.??

Whether you call it Australia Day, Survival Day or Invasion Day, the date January 26 reminds us of the rich diversity of our nation and the responsibility we share to build a future grounded in truth, respect, and reconciliation. If you have the day off, attending First Nations events is just one of the ways you can support this goal. If you live in the Sydney area, I encourage you to attend Yabun Festival, engage with Truth Telling, support First Nations artists and creators, and say hi to our friendly representatives at the SSI stall.?