Support for celebrating Australia Day has surged to an overwhelming majority, with new polling showing public opinion decisively in favour of keeping the date on January 26.<\/p>\n
The latest poll released by the Institute of Public Affairs found 76 per cent of Australians support Australia Day remaining on 26 January, up from 69 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n
Opposition to January 26 has fallen sharply, with just one in ten Australians opposing the date, down from 14 per cent in 2025 and 17 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n
The data showed 83 per cent of Australians aged 18\u201324 support Australia Day on January 26, up from 52 per cent in 2025 and just 42 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe divisive debate about our national day is over,\u201d IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupport for Australia Day on 26 January has surged, yet again, with more than three-quarters of Australians backing it in, including 83 per cent of Australians aged 18-24.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis polling confirms what mainstream Australians have always known: January 26 is Australia Day \u2013 always was, always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results come amid renewed calls for national unity following the Bondi Beach terror attack late.<\/p>\n
Mr Wild said that the decline in social cohesion over the past 12 months, including the Bondi Beach terror attack, served as a reminder of unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why uniting around our national day, and our national flag, is a great reminder to us all that there is far more that unites us than divides us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The polling has been released against the backdrop of controversy over taxpayer-funded research examining whether Australia Day<\/a> should be moved.<\/p>\n The Australian Research Council recently handed almost $1.5 million in taxpayer funding to a controversial research project examining changing the date.<\/p>\n