Citizenship ceremonies in Nillumbik will no longer be held on 26 January, the Australia Day public holiday, following a decision by Council.
Instead, January citizenship ceremonies will take place within the three days after 26 January, which is in line with recent changes to Federal Government requirements for conducting citizenship ceremonies.
The January 2024 citizenship ceremony will be held on Monday 29 January.
Mayor Ben Ramcharan said the decision was a significant moment for Nillumbik.
“We are currently working on our first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan – working towards Reconciliation is a matter we take very seriously,” Cr Ramcharan said.
Cr Ramcharan said Council had recently welcomed an Aboriginal Partnerships Officer, who was doing an outstanding job in guiding the organisation through important work including helping Council confront the difficult history of harm that has been done and working towards meaningful reconciliation.
Prior to the Federal Government’s amendment to the Australian Citizenship Code in December, councils were required to hold a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day.
However, the update enables councils to change the date of their citizenship ceremonies to any of the three days before or after 26 January.
Cr Ramcharan said it was important to listen to Aboriginal people.
“So many Aboriginal people, including the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the Traditional Owners of this land where Nillumbik is located, have said to us they do support the date of Australia Day being changed,” he said.
“We don’t have that power, it’s up to the Federal Government if they want to change the date of Australia Day.
“But what we can do is acknowledge that holding a citizenship ceremony on a date that for so many people is a day of mourning is insensitive and I think it’s incredibly significant for us to be changing the date of that citizenship ceremony to a date when we can all celebrate and we can all really enjoy accepting new citizens into our country.”
The date of future January citizenship ceremonies will be determined 14 months prior to the event, at the annual November Council meeting, which coincides with the election of the Mayor.
