Featuring the People’s March and the Voyages Concert, Melbourne’s Australia Day events and celbrations focus strongly on the celebration of multi-culturalism.
This live feed is in Melbourne for the main events and firework display on Australia Day 2011:
Australia Day Melbourne Live Feed
Since 1988 participation in Australia Day has increased and in 1994 all States and Territories began to celebrate a unified public holiday on the actual day for the first time. Research conducted in 2007 reported that 27.6% of Australians polled attended an organised Australia Day event and a further 25.6% celebrated with family and friends making Australia Day the largest annual public event in the nation. This supported the results of an earlier research project where 66% of respondents anticipated that they would actively celebrate Australia Day 2005.
Outdoor concerts, community barbecues, sports competitions, festivals and fireworks are some of the many events presented in communities across Australia. These official events are presented by the National Australia Day Council, an official council or committee in each state and territory, and local committees.
Both prior to the establishment of Australia Day as the national day of Australia, and in the years subsequent to its creation, several different dates have been proposed for its celebration, and, at various times, the possibility of moving Australia Day to an alternative date has been mooted.
