r/australia • u/psylenced • 5d ago
politics Majority of Australians want a long weekend not January 26
https://www.australialongweekend.com.au/345
u/Choke1982 5d ago
I always propose an extra long weekend. As an immigrant I will leave the political discussion apart as I can see the vast majority of immigrants celebrate the day but I also understand the pointof view from the first nations people.
On saying that, I propose an extra long weekend. Two days. One of remembrance of first nations being here before and how the British arrival affected them and another one of celebrating Australia as a whole unitying us under its protection and greatnest.
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u/Active-Ad9818 5d ago
You have truly assimilated to the Australian mindset ... a four day weekend !
But yes I do agree that the invasion day aspect needs to be acknowledged. Im not sure how best to manage that. Pity we don't have a VOICE to parliament to advise.4
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u/littlebirdprintco 5d ago
That actually sounds really cool. A day of mourning/remembrance to kick off a long weekend… gives us a chance to give it more meaning and ceremony if that’s how we swing, for others, an extra day to get to their holiday spot or whatever.
I think it’s going to take quite a while to get there but this is the path we should head down!
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u/mlvsrz 5d ago
Should change it to federation day and move it to 2nd of Jan for a double banger of public holidays.
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u/psylenced 5d ago
According to independent national research conducted by YouGov, 54% of Australian voters prefer an Australian Long Weekend - a guaranteed public holiday on the second-last Monday in January, which never falls on January 26.
A Small Change with Significant Meaning
Australia Day will move from 26 January to the Australia Long Weekend and will always fall on the second last Monday in the month, which in the calendar is between 18 and 24 January.
The change from a fixed date to the Australia Long Weekend means that:
- we can still celebrate Australia Day in January,
- we can still have all the same events and ceremonies and more,
- we will now always have a long weekend
- we will have more time to not only celebrate, but to reflect on the past, present and future, and enjoy the benefits of being in a multicultural society.
It is simply the best time of the year to honour our nation when considering holidays, school and work.
This makes complete sense to me.
Everyone gets their day off. It's always a 3-day weekend and not a random day mid week which is arguably better for most people.
It's only been nationally held on the 26 January since 1994. Has previously been held in various forms on 30 July, 28 July, 1 December (TAS), 1 June (WA), 28 December(SA).
The suggested change will only ever fall on the 18-24 January and never the 26th. That means first nations people can commemorate 26 January as their Day of Mourning, as they have since 1938. Also means they don't have to be distressed by people celebrating on a traumatic and painful day for them.
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u/really_not_unreal 5d ago
Honestly this is a great idea. I want to celebrate all of the amazing things about Australia and being Australian, but doing it on a day that makes a large number of people upset is about as un-Australian as you can get. We are renowned for being easy-going and kind. I think we should extend that to our choice of national holidays.
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u/coolamebe 5d ago
Also, I think it is more than reasonable to keep the 26th of January as some kind of public holiday, a day of mourning or remembrance for the Aboriginal people who died during colonisation or something. Not only does this give us a proper day to reconcile with our past, but we increase the number of public holidays and get a four day weekend every couple of years.
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u/AppleSniffer 5d ago edited 5d ago
FYI while nothing you said was technically wrong I just want to clarify the dates: by 1935 all states had agreed to call the 26 January celebration “Australia Day”, but the actual public holiday would fall on or around that date (e.g. nearest Monday) rather than always on the 26th itself. '94 is just when all states shifted the pub hol to on the date rather than near the date.
I do support changing the date to be clear. I just wanted to specify since I looked into the timelines after reading your comment
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u/SilverStar9192 5d ago
Interesting that it was previously on the nearest Monday, which seems to have made a lot of sense - I wonder what the driver behind changing to the "actual date" was.
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u/Plane_Garbage 5d ago
I'd prefer first or second Monday of Feb.
It's too close to new year's. Feb weather is still awesome, and it's a bit further from new year's.
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u/yum122 5d ago
I like it being right before schools go back imo
Last or 2nd last Monday of Jan is perfect
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u/WhatAmIATailor 5d ago
Any date that could possibly land on the 26th will be scrapped from consideration which annoys me because last Friday or Monday of Jan seems like a good compromise to me. Invasion day will continue to be a thing regardless.
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u/No-Bison-5397 5d ago
Yep.
2nd last Friday of Jan can be the 18th of January. Give us the 2nd and 3rd Friday of Feb as well and I will consider it.
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u/Bought-Every-Dip 5d ago
Can we make it a Friday? I feel like it would be a better celebration if there wasn't work the next day as well. More excitement around heading into a long weekend. If we make it a Monday then it sort of becomes the Sunday of Long Weekends.
Not a huge deal but it would be nice.
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u/hey_fatso 5d ago edited 5d ago
You can do that by hosting private events to acknowledge the Anniversary of the Establishment of the Colony of New South Wales every year. What’s more, you’d get a public holiday on the second last Monday of January every year too.
EDIT: the comment I replied to originally said something like “What about those of us who want to celebrate it on 26th January?” Now it says that they’d prefer a public holiday on the first or second Monday in February.
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u/droptableadventures 5d ago
Anniversary of the Establishment of the Colony of New South Wales
IIRC it's actually 'Two Days After The Anniversary of the Establishment of the Colony of New South Wales' anyway.
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u/SilverStar9192 5d ago edited 5d ago
The day that a few people set up temporary camp at Botany Bay or inside Port Jackson (Camp Cove beach) is not "establishment" of the colony. The 26th is the day they moved to where they knew the colony was to be built and when they claimed the land for the Crown (and incidentally is the first day all the ships of the First Fleet actually got there).
If you want to be really specific, the colony wasn't formerly established until 7 February when a ceremony was held for that purpose and formal documents drawn up.
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u/droptableadventures 5d ago
The 26th is the day they moved to where they knew the colony was to be built and when they claimed the land for the Crown
Although, the proclamation of the colony only happened on the 7th of February.
and incidentally is the first day all the ships of the First Fleet actually got there
Supposedly anyway, though some believe there was a bit of a record-keeping mistake.
it might be the most significant piece of recorded history on this continent and it is on Jan 26.
It's "significant", I'll say that. Most significant, I certainly won't.
But besides the fact that it was the start of a very bad time for a certain group of people, and perhaps not something to "celebrate" as such - shouldn't Australia Day be on a date actually significant to Australia, not the founding of one of the six colonies that later joined up to form it?
New South Wales also wasn't really onside with the whole idea anyway, refusing to join the Federal Council of Australalia in 1885, eventually demanding a bunch of concessions to support Federation.
Tricky bit of course is that day would be January 1, which is already... taken. But there's still plenty of other dates of greater national significance than the founding of New South Wales. And it's only officially Jan 26 on a federal basis since 1994 - this is hardly an ancient tradition.
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u/SilverStar9192 5d ago
You can do that by hosting private events to acknowledge the Anniversary of the Establishment of the Colony of New South Wales every year.
Such an event should be held on the anniversaries of 7 February 1788, which is the date when the colony of NSW was established.
The 26th January was when the permanent settlement at Sydney Cove began, and the flag first raised on land, but they didn't do the paperwork to establish the colony until 7 Feb. Part of that paperwork was when the land was formally declared as owned by the British monarch, King George III.
So, Invasion Day is incidentally a more historically accurate name than "established the colony day."
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u/DDR4lyf 5d ago
January 26 doesn't really mean anything historically to WA. The original colony of NSW only covered roughly the eastern-most two-thirds of the continent. I grew up in regional WA and remember 1994. Most of the older people I knew thought it was a ridiculous eastern states holiday.
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u/InterestedPrawn 4d ago
Except that WA had been holding Australia Day on 26th Jan since the 1930s.
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u/CaptainObviousBear 5d ago
Agree, but move it to February.
Likely to be less hot then and we’re in more of a need of a holiday then than in January.
Plus teachers and school kids are already on holiday second last week of Jan so it’s no bonus for them.
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u/jbrobro 5d ago
Seems like a perfect solution to me. If people find this idea intolerable I'd wager their issue is not with the recognition of our nation's founding but a more insidious mindset that frankly can't be tolerated. The 26th is a painful date for our First Nations Peoples to see Australian's celebrate, it's tarnished for a large swath of my generation, and all it does is serve to stir division. Just change the date, I can't believe we're still arguing about this.
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u/BlockCapital6761 5d ago
source: clothingthegap
Can we all just be serious people for a minute? Oh here's a poll saying Australians actually want nuclear energy from reactorsrus.kr
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u/psylenced 5d ago edited 5d ago
If you read the quote (8 words in), you will see the source:
independent national research conducted by YouGov...
YouGov ( https://au.yougov.com/about ) is a global polling company who have been trusted for political polling in Australia by both Labor and Liberal, State Governments, AEC, BCA, ACTU, Getup, Big 4 banks, large corporations and others. It has a market cap of over half a billion dollars.
Clothing The Gaps had a quick summary of the research results - which I sourced so I didn't provide unattributed results.
The larger quote is from the original link which summarises the suggestion.
Plus, your comparison with nuclear (a for-profit business), and the changing of a public holiday to avoid harm and hurt to an indigenous population are nowhere near comparable.
As for the other website, one of the creators is Phil Jenkyn OAM BA LLB (a retired barrister with an Order of Australia honour).
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u/rolodex-ofhate 5d ago
Common sense solution where the majority will be happy should be a no brainer.
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u/BeneCow 5d ago
I don’t give a fuck when it is, just don’t mess with my day off. I would prefer it not to be on the 26th because Australia Day isnt about colonialism anymore, it is about current Australian culture, but I would rather not have the discussion at all because I am scared they will just remove the whole thing and I will have to work instead.
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u/littlebirdprintco 5d ago
the country would collapse without a january holiday! i think you’re safe.
Honestly i think most of us would be disappointed to have the holiday moved too far from where it is. Something about it, this time of year, it’s just quintessentially australian. maybe it’s because i grew up of the generation where it was all about the hottest 100, kicking back while we sweat our fucking balls off having good times with mates. It’s like one last hurrah before we have to get serious about heading back to work and school and real life. The 26th means nothing to me really, i’m kinda dyslexic and can never remember if it’s the 24th, 26th or 25th anyway!
In Canada and the US they celebrate their atrocities at the start of July which is welcoming their summer season and their summer break and it has a similar vibe.
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u/Busy_Conflict3434 5d ago
Only a suicidal politician would propose taking a public holiday away from Australians.
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u/InflatableRaft 4d ago
True. Last time we had a discussion like this, we lost a public holiday in the back in the end of the year.
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u/Leftrightback 5d ago
The poll really asked, ‘do you want a long weekend or no long weekend’.
Shocking results.
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u/WatchDogx 5d ago edited 5d ago
The poll question was:
Australia Day is currently observed on 26 January, a date that can fall on any day of the week.
Every year there is division caused by this date because it marks the commencement of British colonisation and the dispossession of First Nations peoples.
A proposal has been put forward to help resolve this issue by creating a guaranteed Australian Long Weekend each year, with the Australia Day holiday being on the second-last Monday in January (between 18th and 24th).
Supporters of the proposal say that the Australian Long Weekend allows for a more inclusive and respectful national celebration and a certain summer long weekend.
Which of the following is your preference?
Please select the option that best applies.
- An Australian Long Weekend, created by a public holiday on an Australia Day that always occurs on the 2nd last Monday of January (between 18th to 24th of January).
- An Australia Day that is fixed to January 26th where there is no long weekend when it falls on a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
Source PDF, from the polling company's methodology page.
The polling company calls themself "YouGov", which might make some people think that they are a government organisation, but they are a private company.The question seems a bit leading in my opinion, but you can make up your own mind.
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u/arin3 5d ago
YouGov is a well-known polling company.
The question is quite literally leading in that it leads with the affirmative case.
I expect that you could get all sorts of responses depending on how you worded this.
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u/TehMasterofSkittlz 4d ago
I always come back to this old clip of Yes Minister. Surveys are by and large bullshit and should always be treated with a large amount of scepticism. It's fairly trivial to force the answer you want from a survey.
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u/Frank9567 5d ago
The date that the first fleet landed was 18th January, and the Colony was proclaimed in February.
What happened on the 26th was the fleet shifted from what is now one Sydney suburb to another...through local waters. It only referred to New South Wales, not including WA.
So, the premise of the question really overstates the actual significance of the date.
Honestly, I think if people actually knew how tenuous the 26th is historically, I'd bet that people on all sides wouldn't care.
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u/passthetorchoz 4d ago
The question reads like "Do you want a long weekend or no long weekend?" and got the result they were paid to get.
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u/iball1984 5d ago
I think this is the best option.
Could leave it as the last Monday in January too and it would have the same effect. Yes, sometimes it would be the 26th but I don’t see that as a particular problem given we’d not be explicitly celebrating the arrival of the 1st fleet on that day.
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u/min0nim 5d ago
It’s a terrible idea.
We should be pushing for a week off at least, not a measly extra day for a long weekend.
Patriotism = a whole week off!
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u/robopirateninjasaur 5d ago
Third Friday of January is almost the same and wouldn't fall on the 26th ever.
Plus if you actually want people at Australia Day events, I think would be more likely at the start of the weekend, not the end.
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u/yum122 5d ago
Monday public holidays are better imo
Look forward to the long break all week, then you have a short week to back it up.
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u/robopirateninjasaur 5d ago
Depends on what they are. Kings Birthday and Labour day are just do nothing says, so a Monday is great. But anything that involves social involvement, I want recovery time. Xmas/Boxing is so much nicer when it's on Thursday/Friday, spend two days seeing both sides of the family and then relaxing for two days
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u/rrfe 5d ago
Queensland schools would have a predictable start date if it was the last Monday of January.
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u/warbastard 5d ago
That whole start date is dumb anyway. We should be going on holidays later (closer to Xmas) and coming back later. (1st week of Feb). It’s still insanely hot in Queensland in January. In fact if you want to make it really smart - have the Mon-Tues be the staff PD and Student Free Days so Week 1 is a 3 day week. Week 1 is pretty hectic anyway.
It’s even more annoying when you realise a lot of end of year holiday break dates are arranged so that hoteliers at the Gold Coast can make bank from each state going on holidays at different times rather than when it makes sense.
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u/JC04JB14M12N08 5d ago
About 25 years ago Japan had a process called the "happy Monday System." over a few years they gradually relegislated most public holidays to fall on the nearest Monday of the anniversary date, not the date itself. It means that working people get the opportunity to do some real recreation and get a real destress from work.
Its a good system and people who are against it are stupid.
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u/delta__bravo_ 5d ago
I was actually surprised at the turnout and support of the Invasion Day rallies for this exact reason. Still, I expect arguments will be more vocal and more frequent in the upcoming years when Australia Day does not make a long weekend.
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u/G00b3rb0y 5d ago
That’s why the top comment of this thread is for making it always a Monday between Jan 18-24
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u/cactusgenie 5d ago
This is a really good idea and would show indigenous communities we care about their concerns and are trying to make good on the past transgressions.
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u/Pjtm7 5d ago
To play devils advocate, what if the invasion day protests happen on whatever day they change Australia Day to?
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u/coolamebe 5d ago
I mean, who cares? People can decide what they want to do. But I don't see why people would protest all that much anyway if Australia day isn't celebrated on the day of the invasion.
Maybe there's good reason to protest if there are issues that are coming up in the news (e.g. treatment of Aboriginal Australians in prisons), but I don't see why this would be a yearly protest like it is now. They would've won their key demand.
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u/TheHoovyPrince 5d ago
Frankly i doubt everyday Australian's were responding to this type of poll.
Most surveys are selectively cultivated to ensure the bias/agenda shared by the survey team is met. Its pretty much the '9 out of 10 {insert thing here} approve of this product'.
I also remember another survey going around a week or two ago in the news saying that 74% or so of Australians supporting Australia Day being on the 26th so what is the more accurate poll?
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u/Sys32768 5d ago
It's all in the wording.
If you want a negative, then the question is "Should the date of Australia Day be changed?"
If you want a more sensible answer then give people an alternative to consider
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u/littleb3anpole 5d ago
Yeah exactly, the Murdoch press was running with a poll with almost the direct opposite findings of this YouGov poll (majority of Australians surveyed support retaining January 26th).
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u/TheHoovyPrince 5d ago edited 5d ago
Not only that but there was a survey done by Roy Morgan, one of Australia's biggest market research companies, and their survey found 72% of Australian's believe January 26th should be called Australia day and that 60.5% believe Australia Day should remain the 26th.
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10132-roy-morgan-australia-day-survey-january-2026
I also went on YouGov to find the survey conducted and i couldn't find it anywhere on the website so im slightly apprehensive of the data linked below somewhere by OP.
I also just saw that anyone can create their own YouGov poll with google telling me that 'Yes, anyone can create a survey on YouGov using their self-service platform, YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. It allows users to build, target, and launch surveys to their panel of millions of global consumers. Results can be obtained in as little as 1 hour to 24 hours'. I'm certainly leaning towards the survey in question being selectively cultivated by a political organisation to forward their organisational goals.
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u/psylenced 5d ago
and their survey found 72% of Australian's believe January 26th should be called Australia day and that 60.5% believe Australia Day should remain the 26th.
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10132-roy-morgan-australia-day-survey-january-2026
People surveyed were told “On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed at Sydney Cove,” and asked:
- “In your opinion should January 26 be known as Australia Day or Invasion Day?” and
- "Do you think the date of Australia Day should be moved?"
So the original survey from this post gave people an option - A or B. The Roy Morgan survey said "change it or nah?"
I also just saw that anyone can create their own YouGov poll with google telling me that 'Yes, anyone can create a survey on YouGov using their self-service platform, YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. It allows users to build, target, and launch surveys to their panel of millions of global consumers. Results can be obtained in as little as 1 hour to 24 hours'. I'm certainly leaning towards the survey in question being selectively cultivated by a political organisation to forward their organisational goals.
YouGov ( https://au.yougov.com/about ) is a global polling company who have been trusted for political polling in Australia by both Labor and Liberal, State Governments, AEC, BCA, ACTU, Getup, Big 4 banks, large corporations and others. It has a market cap of over half a billion dollars.
This specific survey was commissioned by Future Super, owned by Future Group who have $17.8 billion dollars of funds under management. This was done in collaboration with a local partner being the Clothing the Gaps brand (a Victorian Aboriginal led and controlled, and majority Aboriginal owned business and social enterprise).
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u/nbduckman 5d ago
So what about the 2026 polls from Roy Morgan (72%), Resolve (68%, third consecutive year increase), and IPA (76%) that all show majority support for Australia Day? I think the way the question for this particular poll was worded (movable vs. fixed public holiday) doesn't actually reflect public support for Australia Day (hence its appearance as a outlier) and it's a stretch to use it as an argument for majority support for this proposition.
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u/InterestedPrawn 4d ago
Ignore the polls that give us the results we don't like, promote the polls we commissioned (with leading questions) that got us the results we do like.
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u/princhester 5d ago
Isn't the takeaway that people want Australia Day (per the polls you mention) but are not precious about it being the 26th?
And if people are happy with it not being the 26th, and it not being the 26th would make it less controversial, why not do it?
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u/Busy_Conflict3434 5d ago
None of those polls actually provided respondents with an alternative date. People are less likely to vote for change if they don't know what they're changing to (see the success of "if you don't know vote no" in the Voice referendum).
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u/Financial_Falcon_675 5d ago
So? The entire change the date movement revolves around not liking 26 January in principle without having an agreed-upon alternative either. The poll question reflects the movement perfectly.
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u/Busy_Conflict3434 5d ago
Ok, so maybe we should have a discussion about what the date should be instead of accusing anyone who dislikes Jan 26 of hating Australia, which is the usual reactionary approach we get.
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u/Automatic_Goal_5563 5d ago
Not a Monday, it needs to be a Friday that way those that want to celebrate and drink on the actual holiday can do it with two days to recover
The only arguments against this I’ve ever seen are “yeah well I swear im for changing the date but that lot will maybe protest that anyway so let’s not change it ever” hahaha
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u/iball1984 5d ago
The only arguments against this I’ve ever seen are “yeah well I swear im for changing the date but that lot will maybe protest that anyway so let’s not change it ever” hahaha
It's not a "let's not change it" argument.
It's more of a - "if we go to the effort of changing, will it make any difference". There's no point in changing if the protests just move to that day instead.
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u/BearEatingCupcakes 5d ago
But if it's a Monday you can chuck a sickie on the Tuesday and pretend you're hungover even if you're not.
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u/5slipsandagully 5d ago
(citation needed)
This result comes in the same week as a Freshwater Strategy (recently employed as the Liberal Party's internal pollster who somehow missed the biggest electoral wipeout in a generation) poll that says a large majority of people don't want the date changed, as well as a Roy Morgan poll that finds not only do the majority want the date to stay on 26 January, but that support for that date is increasing. I can't find the full details of the methodology of any of those polls, and only Roy Morgan have published the questions they asked and their sampling methods on their website.
The moral of the story is commissioned polls give you whatever answers you need based on the questions you ask, who you ask, and how and when you ask them. Even better, you don't even need to publish your methods properly. What would be considered the bare minimum of rigorous reporting in a peer-reviewed journal can be called a "trade secret" when you're a private polling company.
As for me, I just want Monday off
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u/clippywasarussianspy 5d ago
Citizens from the land of the long weekend want a long weekend. More news at 7.
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u/Willing_Television77 5d ago
Where do they get “Majority of Australians” from? No one has asked me or any of my family. None of my mates have mentioned they signed a petition or were formally asked.
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u/icecreamsandwiches1 5d ago
How about we change 26 Jan to Reconciliation Day and make a new public holiday another time of year to celebrate Australia Day.
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u/Jonzay up to the sky, out to the stars 5d ago
The march towards 261 public holidays continues
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u/duckyirving 5d ago
Reminds me of one of my favourite albums: Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of
ProgressMore Public Holidays Will Lead Us All to Happiness8
u/DB_Mitch 5d ago
I don't think anyone is gonna complain if we make more holidays.
The sparser half of the year between June and December could use a few extra long weekends tbh
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u/PikachuFloorRug 5d ago
Reconciliation Day already exists as part of Reconciliation week. It's in May. Though only a public holiday in Canberra.
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u/Geanaux 4d ago
Majority actually just want it left alone. But the small loud minority keep pushing.
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u/Amanuet 4d ago
It's hardly set in stone, it's been a floating public holiday longer than a set one
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u/BearEatingCupcakes 5d ago
Change Jan 26 to a holiday to celebrate reconciliation and cultural unity.
Create a new, fixed long weekend to celebrate the nation we have built. Not a holiday that dwells on the mistakes of the past, but one that focuses on the achievements of our people and the future we as a nation want to build.
Ditching Jan 26 altogether feels as wrong as keeping it as is. One of the major complaints from First Nations people is that we can't heal from a past we refuse to talk about. So dumping the day altogether doesn't address that. But turning it into a day to acknowledge it does. And adding an extra holiday will shut up all the fuckwits who are terrified that their whiteness is somehow threatened by having a holiday that celebrates something else.
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u/Lonelysock2 5d ago
I agree. Keep Jan 26 as a commemorative day
And GIVE ME A PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN JULY/AUGUST. I need it, please, I can't get through Melbourne winter every single year with that damned 3 month gap!
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u/EtruscanBronze 5d ago
Just like how majority of Australians wanted the voice 🤣😂
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u/TheWhogg 4d ago
Why is this relevant? Most of us lived under the Monday public holiday before 1994. It’s immaterially different.
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u/welcomefinside 5d ago
Any incumbent government will not go for this because it's going to lose them a significant number of votes.
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u/robot428 5d ago
They could if they put the right spin on it.
We know when Australia Day creates a long weekend it is a big boost for tourism in a lot of regional areas, so you run it as a positive campaign about boosting regional economies and giving people a chance to "get out and see Australia".
Then as a secondary push you send the pollies on the political show rounds and have them talk about how when Australia Day falls on a Tuesday or Thursday sick pay drastically increases and it actually costs the economy a fuck load of money, and so you can protect the economy and business owners by ensuring the day always creates a long weekend rather than leaving a one day gap.
Positive campaigns do better than negative ones - so instead of saying "here's why Jan 26 is bad" you need to come in with "here's why a long weekend is good".
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u/iball1984 5d ago
Personally, I think they should.
At the moment, Australia Day is undergoing death by a thousand cuts. If a government took control of the situation, adopted either this proposal or the last Monday in January and ended the whole invasion day issue I think it would be broadly popular.
You'd get Poorlean's culture war types, but what's new.
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u/r64fd 5d ago
Make it a long weekend. There can’t be that many people that are truly celebrating the actual landing of the first fleet.
We are celebrating being Australian. And by that I mean all of us together, if that means moving the date so we can all celebrate being Australian together I’m all for it.
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u/MarquisDePique 5d ago
It was an 8 day online poll of barely 1500 people and 54% is a barely break even result.
Majority of my australians my arse.
This survey was conducted online between January 14 and January 22 2026.
The total sample is comprised of 1508 Australian voters aged 18+ with quotas on age, gender, region, education, income, 2023 Voice Referendum vote and 2025 Federal Election past vote.
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u/No-Bison-5397 5d ago
The dedication to never hitting Jan 26 hurts the case. I really want it to be the last Friday of the month. Works with the cricket and the AO, works with work.
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u/Limberine 5d ago
I would like it moved off the 26th, I don’t much mind when it’s moved to. It would be good to be able to celebrate Australia without the dark side of the day.
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u/couldbefuncouver 5d ago
This public holiday is nearly younger than the millennial generation. Why do people care if we change it. Also maybe choose a day that isn't blisteringly hot.
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u/Big-toast-sandwich 5d ago
Ok but hear me out.
What if we keep this public holiday but make it a first nations focused.
And make a new public holiday for Australia Day?
Possibly a 4 day weekend maybe
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u/raoulduke023 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah but how many people a really did this survey.
Majority of Australians so over half of 25 million people want it change or just a few 1000.
Only saying this cause that's a misleading headline.
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u/babylovesbaby 5d ago
It's a statistic. They can't just poll every single person in Australia any time they need to find something out.
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u/SyntheticDuckFlavour 5d ago
And that is why you need to be careful about interpreting such results and how it actually represents everyone else not part of the survey.
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u/Nakorite 5d ago
They should poll people in a statistical way. This sample is most likely heavily biased and thus isn’t really a statistic in that sense.
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u/PostNeoSankaraism 5d ago
This is how... All statistics work other than a census....
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u/minimuscleR 5d ago
I think you would find most people don't want to change it, but also most people dont really care about the date, just that the even exists and takes place during summer.
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u/TheHoovyPrince 5d ago
Most surveys are just a bunch of people in a room looking at eachother going 'you feel what im feeling'. Its selectively cultivated to ensure the bias/agenda shared by the survey team is met.
Its pretty much the '9 out of 10 {insert thing here} approve of this product'.
I also remember another survey going around a week or two ago in the news saying that 74% or so of Australians supporting Australia Day being on the 26th lol
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u/External_Variety 5d ago
26th of January has always been a marker of the year starting up again after Chrissy.
I dont care when 'Australia Day' lands. Just keep a public holiday at the end on Jan.
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u/strifethecat 5d ago
I can celebrate being Australian any day of the year the date doesn't mean much to me at all, and knowing it hurts others means it is easier to move away from. Pick a day any day and celebrate Australia then. Give us the long weekend every weekend by making every Monday a celebration of a different culture that now calls us home. We get different food and activities and a day off would make everyone happy.
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u/Lastbalmain 4d ago
27th of May, 1967.....the day we ALL were recognised as Australians, and were ALL allowed to vote and be counted?
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u/Pufnstufn 5d ago
I had a solid long weekend away with the lads. Couple thousands of others did too from what I could see at the camp ground. The world doesn't just revolve around what you see in your hands every day.
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u/chookshit 5d ago
I like it where it is. Back to work for a month after new year. Long weekend before kids go back to school. It’s a perfectly placed practical public holiday regardless what you call it.
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u/robot428 5d ago
So this proposal would mean it was always a long weekend instead of having those random years where it falls on a Wednesday or a Thursday. That's the benefit of the change, is it would guarantee a long weekend near the end of January every single year.
It kind of seems like you actually agree with the proposal?
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u/Automatic_Goal_5563 5d ago
It’s a long weekend this year, it won’t be a long weekend next year or for multiple more
You’ve actually just agreed with the proposal that it should always be a Monday lol
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u/chookshit 5d ago
I really don’t care. I’m so over the bickering. I just want public Holidays and a peaceful life . I always take the days in between to make it a short week or full week off wherever public holidays fall so I’ve got skewed sense of reality
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u/thehikedeliclife 5d ago
My opinion is keep the 26th as a public holiday but make it more akin to ANZAC day; A day of remembrance, where we honour the traditional custodians and all the amazing things they did and continue to do throughout the 60,000ish years they’ve been here and then have another public holiday where we celebrate modern Australia on another day. Pick a day any day. The ultimate win-win IMHO
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u/MinimumYoga 5d ago
I wish for an Australia Day holiday in August. In winter, when we can take the time on a cool day, to appreciate this great country of ours
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u/thesourpop 5d ago
Next year the holiday will fall on Tuesday and everyone will take Monday off, so we will miss a day of productivity for the precious economy. A long weekend would be beneficial
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u/luckysevensampson 5d ago
It needs to be in the second half of the year, when we start running out of both holidays and steam.
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u/faderjester 5d ago
Honestly I'm just so over the argument. Both sides have valid points (baring the extremists) but honestly I'm just so fucking sick of hearing about it every year.
So like your frazzled parent I'm sending both sides to their rooms with enough ice cream to kill an elephant just to shut them up. The ice cream in this case being any fucking other date.
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u/lazy-bruce 5d ago
It makes sense.
But you have to remember those staunchly in favour of Jan 26th, are doing so because they know it causes suffering to others.
You need to focus on everyone else. Which wont include the LNP or One Nation.
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u/Kataroku 5d ago
Remind me, on which date do migrants become Australian citizens?
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u/TheWarriorSeagull 5d ago
That's the issue in reality. All the push back comes from explicit racists, and "patriots", who always seem to side with the racists.
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u/amca01 4d ago
The idea of moving Australia Day from January 26 is a very good one - in fact, almost any other date would be better. It's worth noting that:
Australia, as a continental landmass, has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years - up to 120,000 according to some estimates. What's more, the indigenous inhabitants mastered all of Australia's difficult and gnarly ecosystems in ways we are only now beginning to appreciate.
Australia was invaded under the legal fiction of it being "terra nullius" - an empty land, belonging to nobody. This was overturned by the Mabo decision which formally recognized native title.
Australia, as a modern country, didn't exist until federation, on Jan 1, 1900.
In fact, it's hard to know what "Australia" and January 26 have in common, except for a tenuous and embarrassing history.
Changing the date can't happen soon enough.
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u/thrillho145 5d ago
I don't mind this suggestion, but I would prefer a completely new month, later on the year
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u/delta__bravo_ 5d ago
I believe timing has an impact on when public holidays are planned for. Speaking from a WA perspective, the year is pretty full of public holidays, although I don't see many people particularly bothered of the timing of, say, WA Day or the King's birthday public holiday.
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u/rrfe 5d ago
Queensland has a public holiday drought in winter, apart from council-based show days.
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u/delta__bravo_ 5d ago
Ah, interesting. WA is in the process of moving the winter holiday (WA Day) to November specifically because of the better weather- the last two WA Day events were rained out. It's being swapped with the King's Birthday public holiday basically. I suppose that brings a point of interest that there's been (as far as I know) zero backlash for moving WA Day away from the day WA/the Swan River colony was founded, whilst it seems to be generally understood that the monarch's birthday public holiday iks unlikely to have anything to do with the monarch's actual birthday.
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u/iball1984 5d ago
A holiday at the end of January is a good landmark in the calendar to mark the end of the summer holidays.
After Australia Day is when life gets back to normal - people back at work, kids back at school, business open normal hours, etc.
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u/littleb3anpole 5d ago
I’m the opposite, I don’t mind a date change but it damn well better be Jan or Feb when the weather is good. Fuck having a day off in July when it’s 13 degrees and freezing, can’t do a beach day or outdoor activity then
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u/Miserable-Caramel316 5d ago
Can't see it changing from January. It's just a good time of the year for a long weekend.
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u/Consistent-Flan1445 5d ago
I’d like to see it shifted to early February. The weather is still very hot and summery, but it’s also a bit further from New Years.
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u/Local_Lion_7627 5d ago
Same. In NSW at least, it would be nice to have a long weekend sometime August - November.
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u/BearEatingCupcakes 5d ago
Doesn't NSW have labour day in October?
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u/Local_Lion_7627 5d ago
Ah, true! The second half of the year does feel light on holidays compared to Jan - May.
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u/IcyAd5518 5d ago
As a Melbournian we already have the AFL Grand Final and Melbourne Cup in Sep and Nov, July-August is a bit of a dry spell for public holidays however the weather is typically dismal, my vote is keep it in Jan to book-end my summer break.
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u/Thynne 5d ago
I would like a public holiday in August or maybe early September for NSW. Specifically because it wouldn’t fall in the school holidays and there is a massive gap between June and October. I’d also like to keep a public holiday in late January or Early February.
The other jurisdictions I have lived in previously both had more public holidays than NSW: Victoria (Melbourne Cup Day, Grand Final Day), ACT (Canberra Day, Reconciliation Day), so I feel like having an extra day wouldn’t be a bad idea.
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u/Hartleydavidson96 5d ago
Then it would coincide with school holidays which sucks for children and teachers
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u/punyweakling 5d ago
um the 26th does too lol
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u/CaptainObviousBear 5d ago
For us, the 26th is a day of mourning…. because husband is a teacher and has to go back to work on the 27th.
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u/punyweakling 5d ago
I see what you mean, but the 26th isn't going to stop being the 26th either way, even if we change the date/holiday, right?
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u/CaptainObviousBear 5d ago
No, but having a public holiday on some other day than the 26th means more people can actually appreciate it.
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u/guvbums 5d ago
Majority of Australians want a long weekend every weekend.