In response to feedback gathered through extensive community consultation, Geelong council has adopted a raft of measures around January 26, including ceasing to refer to the date as Australia Day.
Council voted unanimously to change the way the city commemorates the day, including changing the term of reference to ‘the 26th of January’ in all subsequent communications.
Council will hold a mid-morning acknowledgement, recognition and truth-telling ceremony in Johnstone Park, a flag-raising ceremony of Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at City Hall, and encourage more recognition and inclusion of other First Nations cultural activities on January 26.
Council also pledged to support the development of educational opportunities around the history of January 26 within the Geelong context, reschedule citizenship ceremonies to the three days either side of January 26 and lead the conversation locally and nationally about changing the date or the day.
Community feedback was overwhelmingly in support of these measures, with 100 per cent of First Nations people surveyed reporting negative feelings around the day, a sentiment reflected by just under 70 per cent of the broader community.
Deputy Mayor Anthony Aitken said the measures Council were adopting showed its commitment to reconciliation.
“This whole process has come from an initiative that the Council group wants to undertake in our reconciliation and relationships with our First Nations people, and that is, essentially, we want to work and walk together,” Cr Aitken said.
“We wish to take as many people as possible on the journey of reconciliation and understanding the importance of why we have to reconcile our relationships with First Nations people. And this process is going to be the first of many that the City of Greater Geelong has.”
Mayor Trent Sullivan, chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships portfolio, said the changes would help foster unity within the Geelong community.
“The outcomes of (these changes are all about) what will make us better as a society, what will bring us closer together and help us work together,” he said.
“I do believe the recommendations and the outcomes in this report lead us in that direction.
“I’m incredibly proud to be the portfolio holder now, to have elevated it to the mayoral position to show our respect for our First Nations community around us, and I hope that I can do that well.”
