West Aussies Continue to Demand to Change the Date
January 24, 2023
At Painted Dog, we’re focused on making a positive difference in everything we do, and as part of this are committed to advancing reconciliation in Australia, guided by our Reconciliation Action Plan.
Australia Day has been marked as a national holiday since the 1930s, but for many First Nation peoples and many non-Indigenous Australians the 26th of January is not a day of nation unity, rather it marks the date of invasion and the start of dispossession in Australia. As a market research agency who regularly engages the community, we see it as important to monitor public sentiment towards changing the date.
Since 2020 Painted Dog Research has surveyed Western Australians and asked if they supported or opposed keeping January 26th as the date Australia Day is celebrated; this year we polled another n=1,360 on their agreement. We have seen major shifts in the public’s attitude about changing the date since 2020.
This year, we found that community members are more supportive than ever of moving celebrations to another day (29%), with WA’s younger generations leading the call to change. Almost 2 in 3 (61%) 18-24 year-olds and 42% of 25-44 year-olds disagree that Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26th. Conversely, 2 in 3 (67%) community members over the age of 65 want to keep the date – suggesting that over time sentiment is going to continue to shift.
When we survey the community again in 2024, we expect that attitudes continue to trend in the same direction, with increased support to change the date. But what do you think? To have YOUR say and take part in our next poll, sign-up to RewardingViews:
