Councillors vote on civic events on and around Australia Day

This follows a report on the results of extensive community consultation on the format of civic events on and around Australia Day.

Changes include increased council-funded activity at Noreuil Park on the day, which could involve music, food trucks, stalls, family games and Indigenous elements, as identified through the community consultation process.

The Albury Awards will take place on the evening of 25 January at the Albury Entertainment Centre to fully recognise and acknowledge the contributions of community champions.

The Citizenship Ceremony will be held within 3 days of Australia Day.

Council acknowledged that there is differing sentiment in the community about Australia Day and undertook a 10-week community consultation on the issue earlier this year.

This included an online ‘Have your Say’ survey and face-to-face engagement with attendees at the 2024 Albury Awards, the January citizenship ceremony and Noreuil Park family event. Hard copies of the online survey were also available at the Albury and Lavington libraries, community centres and Council’s customer service desk.

An independent consultation was held with Council’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee and through Yarning Circles, and all of the results were also considered in Council’s decision making.

Albury Mayor, Kylie King, thanked the community for their feedback.

“It was clear that most respondents to the survey wished to acknowledge Australia Day at Noreuil Park, suggesting Australia Day activities could involve music, food trucks, stalls, family games and Indigenous elements,” she said.