A growing number of Australians won’t be celebrating on January 26, according to new research.
For a lot of Australians, January 26 is seen as a day of beach cricket and backyard barbeques, and almost half (47 per cent) will celebrate as usual and don’t think the date should be moved.
But a survey of 1054 respondents by Finder, Australia’s most visited comparison site, revealed almost one in five (18 per cent) won’t be celebrating Australia Day and believe the date should be moved.
The research found 15 per cent said they would celebrate but wouldn’t be bothered if the date was to change.
A further 19 per cent said they just wanted a public holiday and didn’t really care about the meaning behind it.
But for others, January 26 represents a day of mourning with some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people referring to it as ‘Invasion Day’, leaving behind a painful legacy.
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Sarah Megginson from Finder said Australia Day was an increasingly taboo subject in recent years.
“While some see it as a day to celebrate our history and culture, others view it as a day that marks the beginning of colonisation and the displacement of Indigenous peoples,” she said.
“Australians have a wide spectrum of opinions on the national public holiday. In recent years, there has been a growing movement of those who are choosing to skip celebrations.”
Young Australians are most in favour of changing the date, with 32 per cent of gen Z and 21 per cent of millennials saying they won’t be celebrating and the date should be changed. In contrast, just 9 per cent of baby boomers feel this way.
Australia Day became a public holiday in 1994.
Meanwhile, a survey of 1075 people by YouGov last month revealed the nation’s top ‘un-Australian’ irks.
About 55 per cent thought a supermarket charging $34 for a watermelon was un-Australian, while 47 per cent said not knowing who Shane Warne was ranked highly on their list.
Getting married on grand final day and supporting New Zealand in any competition offended the Australian sensibilities of about two in five people surveyed.
Eating a pie with a knife and fork, not knowing which teams were in State of Origin and a Bunnings without a sausage sizzle were also deemed un-Australian.
Even the economy was not immune, as one in three of those surveyed declared rising interest rates and property prices worthy of the insult.
However the research, commissioned by Australian Lamb, also showed 61 per cent of men and 46 per cent of women thought the term ‘un-Australian’ was overused in 2022.
The survey coincided with the release of Australian Lamb’s annual marketing push ahead of Australia Day.
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