Hannah Hammoud
Brimbank council will no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26, in acknowledgement that the date represents a day of ‘mourning and sadness’.
At the council meeting on September 19, the council voted to shift the Australia Day citizenship ceremony from January 26, to three days earlier on January 23 from next year.
The decision follows on from a notice of motion raised in February by councillor Jae Papalia who called for a report to be presented to council with options and recommendations on how to acknowledge the date going forward.
“January 26 has long been positioned as a day of celebration and unity but for many Australians, this is a day that divides us,” Cr Papalia said at the time.
The council was presented the report last week, which reflected on the community engagement process undertaken with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Traditional Owner organisations to understand community sentiment around January 26.
The report noted support from Wurundjeri and Bunurong Traditional Owners, and the Brimbank Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee (BATSICC) to move Brimbank’s Australia Day citizenship ceremony to January 23.
Each year, the council has traditionally hosted a citizenship ceremony and barbecue on January 26, in line with previous requirements under the Australian citizen ceremonies code.
In December 2022, the federal government announced an update to the code, to allow councils to hold Australia Day citizenship ceremonies on January 26, or on the three days before and after the date.
The decision to shift the ceremony date was a bone of contention across the council chamber, particularly for councillor Maria Kerr who said she was ‘disappointed’ that the entire community was not consulted on the matter.
On multiple occasions, deputy mayor Ranka Rasic, who was chairing the meeting, had to ask members seated in the gallery to stop disrupting the meeting.
Councillor Jasmine Nguyen continued to speak through the uproar from residents seated in the gallery and said she saw no problem with moving the citizenship ceremony to a new date.
“I just want to note that this notice of motion was moved already earlier this year in February, [and] we’ve already gone through [the] community consultation process,” she said.
“We engaged with the people who are most impacted by holding the ceremony on this day.”
Councillor Victoria Borg attempted to defer the motion to the next council meeting to allow councillors more time to debate over the matter, but the motion was defeated and the original motion was eventually passed.ed.
A further report on options and recommendations on how to acknowledge January 26 will be presented to council next year.
