What is the significance of 26 January in Australian history?

26 January is significant in Australian history as the anniversary of the founding of the British colony of New South Wales at Sydney Cove in 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag and formally claimed the eastern half of the Australian continent on this day, with the First Fleet's eleven ships at anchor in Sydney Harbour. The date is now marked as Australia Day, the country's national day, but it is also observed by many Aboriginal Australians as Invasion Day or Survival Day.

The day has been observed in some form in the colony of New South Wales since the 1810s, originally as Foundation Day or Anniversary Day. It became a public holiday in NSW from 1888 (the centenary of the founding) and was progressively adopted by the other Australian colonies and later states. From 1994 it became a consistent national public holiday observed on the actual date of 26 January in all states and territories, replacing earlier arrangements where some states observed it on the nearest Monday.

Australia Day events include the announcement of Australian of the Year awards by the Prime Minister at the National Australia Day Council ceremony in Canberra on the evening of 25 January, citizenship ceremonies held by local councils on 26 January at which more than 16,000 new citizens are typically conferred, fireworks, regattas on Sydney Harbour, the Australia Day Honours List, public concerts, barbecues in homes and parks, and many local festivals and community events.

Many Indigenous Australians and their supporters mark 26 January differently. The Aboriginal Day of Mourning on 26 January 1938, organised by William Cooper, Jack Patten, William Ferguson, and others at Australia Hall in Sydney to mark the 150th anniversary of the First Fleet, was the first formal Indigenous protest on the date. The 1988 bicentenary saw a protest march of 40,000 people through Sydney's streets, then the largest Aboriginal demonstration in Australian history. Modern Invasion Day rallies regularly draw tens of thousands of participants in capital cities each year. Calls to change the date have grown over recent decades, particularly since the 1988 bicentenary protests and the 2017 Triple J Hottest 100 date change from 26 to 27 January. The defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum on 14 October 2023 (60.1 per cent No) has sharpened the debate. Some local councils have moved their citizenship ceremonies away from 26 January, and the federal Labor government has given councils discretion to hold ceremonies on any day in the three days before, on, or after Australia Day. As of 2026 the official national day remains 26 January and the debate continues.