The previous federal government’s ban on holding citizenship ceremonies on any day except January 26 has been overturned.
Citizenship Minister Andrew Giles said the “pragmatic” change would allow councils to conduct the ceremonies on any day between January 23 and January 29.
However, he said the government’s “strong expectation” was that councils continue to make January 26 the day they chose.
“The Australian government implores councils to have new citizens as their key focus, recognising that many community members want to complete their journey to Australian citizenship in connection with Australia Day,” he said.
“The government’s priority is to ensure that, where people have made the choice to become Australia citizens, they are afforded that opportunity in their own communities, with friends and family, in a timely way.”
However, some councils had cited the higher operational costs of ceremonies held on a public holiday, and that the occasion would work better as part of a broader program of Australia Day events.
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Giles also announced the reinstatement of the City of Yarra and Darebin City Councils’ authority to conduct citizenship ceremonies.
Although the government cited “pragmatic” considerations such as costs and scheduling in its announcement, the debate around January 26 ceremonies has also been shaped by the broader clash over whether the day dubbed “Invasion Day” by many Indigenous Australians is the appropriate one to celebrate new Australians.
As of December 9, there were under 98,000 applications on-hand – the first time in more than five years that the number has been below 100,000.
Of the total number of new citizens in 2022, 92 per cent had, to date, been waiting less than six months to attend a citizenship ceremony.
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