Australia Day Bill

The short answer

Australia Day Bill

The Australia Day Bill 2025 is a private member's bill introduced by Liberal MP Henry Pike (Bowman, QLD) on 1 September 2025 in the 48th Parliament. Its single stated purpose is to declare in Commonwealth legislation that Australia Day is the national day of Australia and is to be observed on 26 January each year. As at the 13 September 2026 source check it remains before the House of Representatives: the bill page lists it as before the House, the first reading was on introduction and the second reading was moved, but it has not been debated to a vote, has not passed either chamber and is not law. The change recorded in this batch is that the bill is no longer carried in the daily selection feed's "current" snapshot; the official record shows no change of parliamentary stage, and there is no evidence it has been passed, withdrawn, discharged or enacted. Australia Day is still not fixed by any Commonwealth Act; the date is observed by convention and set as a public holiday by state and territory legislation.

This is a federal system guide. State constitutions, parliaments and local-government laws can allocate comparable functions differently.

The useful question is not only “what is the rule?” but also “who administers it, which document controls it, and when might it change?” That distinction prevents an accurate general explanation from becoming wrong advice in a particular election, chamber or policy setting.

Evidence review

Chamber-record cross-check for this update

This update was triggered because the Australia Day Bill 2025 stopped appearing in the daily selection feed's current snapshot (a change recorded as source_presence). Under this site's method, a bill dropping out of a list is only a prompt to re-check the official record — it is not itself evidence that the bill passed, was withdrawn or became law. The bill page and the current Bills before Parliament list were re-opened on 13 September 2026.

The official record re-checked on 13 September 2026 shows the bill as a private member's bill originating in the House of Representatives, first read on 1 September 2025 and listed as "Before House of Representatives", with second reading speeches recorded but no vote on the second reading. There is no record of passage in either chamber, no record of Royal Assent, no Act number, and no record of withdrawal or discharge. The bill's substance and stage are therefore unchanged from the site's previous review. The relevant chamber record is the House of Representatives Hansard for 1 September 2025, when Mr Pike introduced the bill after it had lapsed without consideration in the previous Parliament.

Evidence review

What the bill proposes

The bill is short and declaratory. Its official summary reads: "Declares Australia Day as the national day of Australia to be observed on 26 January each year." It would put the date into Commonwealth statute for the first time. It does not create a new public holiday, does not alter state and territory public holiday arrangements, does not change the functions of the National Australia Day Council, and does not change the name of the day.

Australia Day has been observed on 26 January by convention and through proclamations reaching back to 1935, but no Act of the Commonwealth Parliament has ever fixed the date as the national day. Because the date is not in federal legislation, the bill's proponents argue it could in principle be changed by administrative decision rather than by a vote of Parliament. The bill seeks to close what its sponsor describes as that gap.

Evidence review

The current legal status of Australia Day

At present, Australia Day is not established by any Commonwealth Act. The Australia Day Act 1979 (Cth) establishes the National Australia Day Council but does not fix the date. Public holidays for Australia Day are set by state and territory legislation, not by the Commonwealth. The date is therefore Australia's national day in practice, by long-standing convention, rather than by federal statute.

This distinction matters for reading any claim about the bill. Even if the bill passed, it would not by itself compel councils, businesses or individuals to observe the day in any particular way, and a later Parliament could amend or repeal the Act as with any other.

Evidence review

Sponsor and parliamentary status

The bill was introduced by Henry Pike MP, the Liberal member for Bowman in Queensland, on 1 September 2025. Introducing it, Mr Pike told the House it was "a pleasure to bring the Australia Day Bill 2025 before the 48th Parliament after it lapsed without consideration in the last parliament" — a reference to the fact that an earlier version lapsed at the end of the 47th Parliament. It is a private member's bill, introduced in the member's individual capacity and not as government business.

Private members' bills face significant procedural obstacles. Government business has priority on the House's agenda, and private members' business is allocated limited time. For a private member's bill to become law it must clear the House and the Senate and receive Royal Assent; absent government support or sufficient crossbench backing, most do not progress to a vote. As at 13 September 2026 the bill had not been debated to a vote.

Evidence review

The political context

The date of Australia Day has been publicly contested for many years. 26 January marks the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the date is observed as a day of mourning, sometimes called Invasion Day or Survival Day, marking the beginning of colonisation and its consequences for First Nations peoples. Some local councils have moved citizenship ceremonies and events away from 26 January, and some employers allow staff to work the public holiday and take another day instead.

The bill does not engage with the arguments about the date. It proposes to legislate the existing convention. Whether it progresses depends on whether there is majority support in the House for fixing the date in legislation, and on whether it is allocated debating time. OzPolitics does not take a position on the date of Australia Day or on the bill.

Evidence review

What the bill does not do

It does not create a new public holiday — Australia Day is already a public holiday under state and territory law. It does not compel any person or body to celebrate or observe the day. It does not alter the National Australia Day Council's powers or functions. It does not change the name of the day. And it does not entrench the date against future change: like any Act, it could be amended or repealed by a subsequent Parliament.

Common questions

Before you rely on the answer