Article by Sarah Brookes, courtesy of DailyMail
14.01.2026
A new survey reveals that young Aussies are increasingly pushing back against companies that allow staff to swap the Australia Day public holiday.
The poll, conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs, asked Australians whether it was wrong for corporations to make the holiday a voluntary day off rather than a fixed national holiday.
It found that 50 per cent of Australians believe it is wrong for Australia Day to be a voluntary day off.
Opposition is strongest among younger Australians, with 72 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds holding this view, compared with just 44 per cent of people aged 65 and over.
Institute of Public Affairs deputy executive director Daniel Wild said the results demonstrated a growing disconnect between corporate policies and community sentiment.
‘Mainstream Australians believe that Australia Day is for all Australians, and a time for our nation to collectively reflect on and celebrate what makes our country what it is,’ Mr Wild said.
The polling follows reports that several major companies continue to allow employees to work on Australia Day and take an alternative public holiday instead.
Firms named include Insignia Financial, CSL, AGL, AustralianSuper and CBUS.
Last year, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank and AustralianSuper allowed their staff to work on Australia Day.
Supporters of holiday-swapping arrangements argue the approach provides flexibility for staff and recognises that Australia Day is viewed differently by some employees.
Under current workplace laws, public holidays can often be substituted with another day if both parties agree.
However, Mr Wild said allowing Australia Day to be treated like any other interchangeable holiday undermines its national significance.
‘Allowing staff to swap the Australia Day public holiday, as if it were just another day on the calendar with no meaning, is an insult to Australians who understand how important it is that we celebrate our national day together,’ he said.
Mr Wild said younger Australians in particular were rejecting what he described as ‘corporate activism’ around national symbols.
‘Australians have had a gutful of corporations playing politics with our national day,’ he said.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has urged businesses and their workers to ‘stand up for our country’ and celebrate the national public holiday.
The patriotic billionaire has declared that Hancock Prospecting corporate offices will be closed on January 26, giving staff a long weekend.
‘Australia Day is a day to refresh national pride, to celebrate all the great things about our beautiful country, including our hardworking pioneers who had it tough and struggled day after day to help build our country,’ Mrs Rinehart told The Australian.
Meanwhile, Indigenous-owned fashion business Clothing The Gap has launched a change.org petition calling for the January 26 public holiday to be replaced by a ‘floating’ long weekend, with a day off on the second-last Monday of the month.
It has gained nearly 15,000 signatures.
Australia Day falls on January 26, marking the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Harbour in 1788, when Governor Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack at Sydney Cove.
However, many Australians, particularly Indigenous and First Nations people, see it as ‘Invasion Day’ or a ‘Day of Mourning.’
Every year, rallies take place in major cities, with thousands of protesters calling for the holiday to be scrapped or moved.
