The Future of January 26 Events in the Glenelg Shire
Consultation has concluded
PROJECT UPDATE 23 AUGUST 2023
At the August Council meeting Councillors endorsed the community’s feedback on the future of the Council’s involvement in events and activities on January 26 following a month-long consultation process. Please see the "Important File Links" on this page for the full media release.
Glenelg Shire Councillors are seeking community input on the future of the Glenelg Shire Council’s involvement in leading Australia Day Ceremonies, Awards and Civic Events on January 26, 2024 and beyond.
With recent changes to the Citizenship Code (The Code), Local Governments now have flexibility in when and how they deliver various components of January 26 events.
When undertaking widespread community consultation to develop the Community 2040 plan, two key emerging themes were that the Glenelg community wanted to see more of the following:
Recognition and honoring of Aboriginal culture.
Community initiatives that support the engagement and inclusion of Aboriginal people.
On 26 January each year people in Australia recognise a national holiday, called Australia Day (January 26). However, this day of celebrations is not generally embraced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and more broadly is seeing reduced engagement in Civic Events, Awards and Ceremonies.
Glenelg Shire Council recognises that the Civic Events previously held by the Shire on this day have been a point of contention for the Gunditjmara, Jardwadjali, Boandik and Aboriginal community within the Glenelg Shire and more broadly less people are choosing to participate in the Civic Events held on this date.
As a result of the change to The Code, the Glenelg Shire Council would like to seek community input on the future of these events via the short survey below.
For more information on the scope and purpose of this consultation please see the Consultation Approach Document linked to the side.