Entrenches a divisive date
Critics argue the bill would lock in 26 January despite long-running objections that the date marks the start of dispossession for Indigenous Australians, so it would harden rather than ease a national cultural conflict.
Australia Day
Current status
This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Policy area
Government & democracy
What does this bill do?
Australia Day would be locked into federal law as Australia’s national day on 26 January, making it harder for a government to remove or replace it on its own.
Why was it introduced?
Australia Day was widely treated as the national day but was not protected in federal law, leaving 26 January open to change or abolition by government action. The bill puts Australia Day on 26 January into law and requires any future change to be approved by voters at a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date..
Broader context
Australia Day was already observed as a 26 January public holiday across Australia and widely treated as the national day, but it was not formally fixed in federal law. After the 2023 date debate became more visible through public service holiday-swap rules, corporate leave policies and Invasion DayA protest name for 26 January used by people who see the date as a day of colonisation and harm for Indigenous Australians. rallies, the bill was introduced to lock 26 January into federal law and require any future change to be approved at a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date., but it was later removed from the Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked. without passing.
Key criticism
The strongest criticism is that the bill would entrench 26 January in federal law even though many Indigenous Australians and others see that date as bound up with invasion, exclusion and ongoing harm, making change harder by forcing a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date.. That case appears to have come mainly from the wider Australia Day debate, including Indigenous protest voices and some employers acknowledging the date as painful, rather than from recorded parliamentary speeches opposing this bill.
Who supported it?
Henry Pike MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from LNP.
Introduced in House 27 Mar 2023
Failed in House 14 Nov 2023
Did not reach Senate —
Did not become law —
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
232 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
What does this bill do?
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Australia Day would be locked into federal law as Australia’s national day on 26 January, making it harder for a government to remove or replace it on its own.
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Australia could change the date of Australia Day in future only through a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date., not just by passing an ordinary government decision.
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Any vote on changing the date would have to keep 26 January on the ballot, and the people who can vote in federal elections would also vote on the new date.
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Parliament would set the detailed voting rules for any date-change plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date., including whether preferential votingA voting method where people rank dates in order of preference, which the bill says could be used if there are three or more options. is used if voters choose between three or more possible dates.
Show source excerpts
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The primary purpose of this Bill is to enshrine Australia’s National Day in federal law. The provisions in this Bill are the same as those used to enshrine ANZAC Day as a National Day of Commemoration through the ANZAC Day Act 1983. The date of Australia Day would be formally established as 26 January. This legislative protection ensures that Australia Day must remain as a National Day and cannot be abolished by the actions of the government.
Australia Day explanatory memorandum -
The remainder of the Bill provides an avenue through which the date of Australia Day could be changed in the future. This process would be the same prescribed in the Flags Act 1953 for changing the design of Australia’s National Flag, namely through a national plebiscite.
Australia Day explanatory memorandum -
How a national plebiscite on Australia Day would be formed and conducted will be at the discretion of the parliament. However, any alternate proposals must include 26 January as an option that can be selected by voters in the plebiscite. Those qualified to vote in federal elections would be qualified to vote on any proposal for an alternate date for Australia’s National Day.
Australia Day explanatory memorandum -
Sub-section 3(3) provides that the form and manner in which a proposal for a new national day is to be submitted to the electorate, the manner in which a vote on the proposal is taken (which may include the adoption of a form of preferential voting for choosing among 3 or more dates); and arrangements for adopting a new date as Australia Day if chosen as mentioned in subsection (2), are to be as Parliament prescribes.
Australia Day explanatory memorandum
Context
Broader context for this bill
Australia Day was already observed as a 26 January public holiday across Australia and widely treated as the national day, but it was not formally fixed in federal law. After the 2023 date debate became more visible through public service holiday-swap rules, corporate leave policies and Invasion DayA protest name for 26 January used by people who see the date as a day of colonisation and harm for Indigenous Australians. rallies, the bill was introduced to lock 26 January into federal law and require any future change to be approved at a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date., but it was later removed from the Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked. without passing.
- 18 Jan 2023
Federal public servantsGovernment employees; the page refers to Commonwealth public servants being allowed to swap the Australia Day holiday. kept the option to swap the Australia Day holiday
The Albanese government confirmed Commonwealth public servantsGovernment employees; the page refers to Commonwealth public servants being allowed to swap the Australia Day holiday. could still negotiate to work on 26 January and take another day instead, keeping the date debate visible inside government workplaces.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - 24 Jan 2023
Major employers expanded leave swaps around 26 January
Large companies including Telstra, NABNational Australia Bank, one of the major employers reported to have allowed staff to swap leave around Australia Day. and REA GroupA large company reported to have let staff work on Australia Day or take another day off, showing the date dispute had spread into workplace policy. were reported to be letting staff work on Australia Day or take another day off, showing the dispute over the date had spread into corporate policy.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - 26 Jan 2023
Invasion DayA protest name for 26 January used by people who see the date as a day of colonisation and harm for Indigenous Australians. rallies and the date dispute dominated Australia Day 2023
Rallies were held on 26 January while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he did not want to move Australia Day from that date, underscoring that the issue had become a live national political argument.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - 27 Mar 2023
Australia Day Bill 2023 was introduced in the HouseThe lower house of the federal Parliament, where the bill was introduced and where the voting rules for a plebiscite would be set.
Henry Pike introduced the bill with a second reading speech arguing that Australia Day should belong to the Australian people and not be changed by a government acting alone.
Hansard ↗ - 14 Nov 2023
The bill was removed from the Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked.
The bill was removed from the HouseThe lower house of the federal Parliament, where the bill was introduced and where the voting rules for a plebiscite would be set. Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked. under standing order 42A House rule used here to remove the bill from the Notice Paper without it becoming law., leaving the proposed federal protection for 26 January without parliamentary passage.
Parliamentary timeline ↗
Legislative route
How did it move through Parliament?
House Senate
Introduced 27 Mar 2023
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
Second reading opened 27 Mar 2023
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Removed from the Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked. in accordance with (SO 42A House rule used here to remove the bill from the Notice Paper without it becoming law.) 14 Nov 2023
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
The main case against this bill
The strongest criticism is that the bill would entrench 26 January in federal law even though many Indigenous Australians and others see that date as bound up with invasion, exclusion and ongoing harm, making change harder by forcing a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date.. That case appears to have come mainly from the wider Australia Day debate, including Indigenous protest voices and some employers acknowledging the date as painful, rather than from recorded parliamentary speeches opposing this bill.
No significant parliamentary case against the bill is recorded so far.
Makes future change too difficult
By requiring any change to go through a national plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date. while keeping 26 January on the ballot, the bill was open to criticism for making reform harder even if governments or communities later wanted a different date.
Votes
Recorded votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Who spoke, and what they said
Start here — lead voices
Sponsor speech Supports
Henry Pike
Henry Pike supports the bill and wants Australia Day locked into federal law so governments cannot cancel or change it without a plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date..
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
Coalition
1 speaker · 1 support
Coalition
1 speaker · 1 support
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Henry Pike ★ Henry Pike supports the bill and wants Australia Day locked into federal law so governments cannot cancel or change it without a plebisciteA public vote used here to decide whether Australia Day could move to a new date..
“This bill will enshrine Australia's national day in federal law.”
Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
Full record
- Status
- Not Proceeding -- Collected from the APH bill page.
- Originating house
- House of Representatives
- 27 Mar 2023
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
- 27 Mar 2023
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
- 14 Nov 2023
House · Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
Removed from the Notice PaperThe House of Representatives schedule of bills and business to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is effectively parked. in accordance with (SO 42A House rule used here to remove the bill from the Notice Paper without it becoming law.)
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.