Australia Day is held every year on 26 January, which is a national public holiday across Australia.

Quick Scoop

  • Date each year: Australia Day is observed annually on 26 January, regardless of the day of the week.
  • Next dates coming up:
    • 2026: Monday 26 January.
* 2027: Tuesday 26 January.

What Australia Day Marks

  • The day marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson (Sydney) and the beginning of the colony of New South Wales in 1788.
  • Many people use the public holiday for barbecues, community events, and fireworks, while others attend citizenship ceremonies or watch the Australian of the Year and Order of Australia honours.

Ongoing Debate About the Date

  • For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 26 January is seen as a day of mourning and is often referred to as Invasion Day or Survival Day because it represents the start of dispossession and violence.
  • There is an active public debate, including online and in the media, about whether the national day should be moved to a different date to be more inclusive, and this discussion tends to spike each January.

TL;DR: Australia Day is on 26 January every year, but what that date means is heavily debated and can feel very different depending on whose story is being told.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.