Rather than a standard approach to community consultation, the City held a broader conversation over a six-month period, going out into the community to seek face-to-face feedback, and undertaking online engagement.
Recommendations from this engagement will soon be presented to Council to guide the City’s future approach to activities and commemorations held on 26 January.
From the beginning of this conversation, the City made it clear that changes were not proposed to civic commemorations for 26 January 2023. The City will host two citizenship ceremonies on 26 January to welcome approximately 300 new citizens to the region.
The Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative will hold a Survival Day on 26 January at 62 Morgan Street in North Geelong, with the City providing support for free coffee and a community breakfast. The event will begin with a Welcome to Country at 9am and a conclude at 10am.
The City is also supporting the Lara Australia Day Breakfast at the Lara Sporting Club, Australia Day at Portarlington, the Rippleside Family Fun Day, and the Festival of Sails.
Mayor Trent Sullivan
The City of Greater Geelong has been listening to and seeking feedback from across the Greater Geelong community about 26 January – which is celebrated as Australia Day.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback and joined in the six-month conversation from May to November 2022.
We received very strong feedback to this engagement – 952 survey responses. This included 447 contributions from First Nations People, the largest number of contributions we have ever experienced from the First Nations community on any issue.
For some people in our community, January 26 is a day to celebrate, while for many First Nations People it represents a day of mourning, sorrow and survival.
We are currently reviewing feedback from our conversation about 26 January to understand and acknowledge the experiences of First Nations Peoples and the wider community.
