26/01/2026
INVASION DAY | SURVIVAL DAY 2026
This long weekend is a public holiday for many of us.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this day holds very different meanings.
Today, we stand in solidarity with First Nations peoples and affirm our support for their self determination, autonomy, voice, recognition, reconciliation, respect, and rights. Allyship matters—particularly because First Nations peoples make up less than 4% of Australia’s population and have long been disproportionately impacted by systemic injustice.
If you find yourself “sitting on the fence” around conversations such as “Should we call it Australia Day, Survival Day, or Invasion Day?” or “Why change the date?”—it’s important to recognise that being on the fence is itself a privilege.
It is often only possible to feel unaffected by these debates when they do not directly harm you.
With privilege comes responsibility. Learning about our own privilege—something many of us continue to do—makes allyship even more important.
We are on Noongar Boodjar, sacred ground. First Nations peoples have maintained an unbroken relationship with this land for tens of thousands of years—this is Country. As people living here now, our relationship with this land also carries responsibility, because Country and people are inseparable. If this is our home, we must care for all parts of it.
For First Nations peoples, 26 January represents the beginning of invasion—an illegal claim of inhabited land under the fiction of terra nullius. That invasion was accompanied by massacres, genocide, displacement, forced assimilation, and the attempted erasure of cultures, languages, and families. Across WA and the rest of Australia, these histories are not abstract—they are tied to specific places and living memory.
This is why many refer to today as Invasion Day or Survival Day.
It is a day of mourning, loss, and remembrance—but also a day that honours survival, strength, resistance, and what First Nations peoples have achieved and continue to achieve despite profound injustice. These meanings exist together.
Calls to change the name or the date of this day come from the recognition that what is celebrated by some is experienced as grief and trauma by others. Allyship asks us not to dismiss this, but to listen and respond to what First Nations communities say they need—rather than assuming or imposing our own ideas.
Around the country, communities come together today for events that invite reflection, truth telling, cultural connection, and solidarity—whether on Garigal Land, Noongar Boodjar, Wardandi Country, or elsewhere. These gatherings hold space for both gratitude for being here and acknowledgement of the harm caused through colonisation.
In Perth, the City of Perth quietly cancelled the annual Survival Day Concert, rebranding it as the “Birak Concert,” citing declining attendance and unnamed “key stakeholders”—without consultation with the Aboriginal community. This decision has caused deep concern and hurt.
As Karla Hart has said, the Survival Day Concert has long been a safe space for mob to gather, grieve, mourn, hold each other, and celebrate survival. Since 2001, it has operated as a grassroots counter space to Australia Day celebrations. Community leaders have described the cancellation as dismissive, anti reconciliation, and another example of decisions being made without listening to First Nations voices.
We cannot change the past—but we can decide how we show up now.
Standing in solidarity means listening, learning, and taking action guided by the voices of First Nations peoples. It means using privilege to support—not overshadow—their calls for justice, healing, and self determination.
Today, and every day, we can choose allyship.
EVENTS WA Below or Here for Across the Nation https://antar.org.au/issues/survival-day/events-listing/
Reflect Respect Celebrate Australia Day Smoking Ceremony and Community Breakfast
When: 26 January 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 AM
Where: Victoria Gardens, 10 Royal Street, East Perth
What: A traditional cultural Smoking Ceremony at Victoria Gardens in East Perth. Hosted by Auspire and delivered by Whadjuk Noongar artists and performers, the Smoking Ceremony will promote healing and cleansing as a mark of respect to the land, and elders past, present and future. The Rotary Club of Heirisson will then serve up a delicious BBQ breakfast, available for an $8 donation to charity.
Cost: Free / $8.00.
Invasion Day Protest
When: 26 January 2026, 12:00 PM
Where: Forrest Chase, on Wellington Street in Boorloo (Perth), Whadjuk Noongar Country
What: Perth has answered the call for the Invasion Day march on January 26th. It starts at Forrest Place at 12pm noon and the march will start at 1pm from there towards Survival Day at Stirling Gardens.
Cost: Free
Reflect and Respect Film Dome
When: 26 January 2026, 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Where: Langley Park, Riverside Drive
What: The film dome will feature the films, Koora, Koora: A Long Long Time Ago, inspired from the storybooks of respected Aboriginal Elder Theresa Walley; plus Six Noongar Seasons, courtesy of the Royal Agricultural Society of WA; The Story of Us, produced by Auspire; and Australian Values, supplied by the Department of Home Affairs. The films will be showing on rotation with giveaways and other entertainment throughout the afternoon.
Cost: Free
Rubibi Survival Day
When: 26 January 2026, 4:00 pm – 11:00 PM AWST
Where: Gimme Club at Goolarri Media, Blackman St, Broome
What: Goolarri Media are back for another year of hosting the most exhilarating night of the year! With an incredible line up of Kimberley bands: Krui3ers | Darkside | Bloodwood | Saltwater Kin | Lexyanna.
Cost: $15 online ( + small booking fee), $20 on the door and Children under 10 free. Attendees under 18 will only be admitted if accompanied by an adult.
Sources:
Herald Online Journal (23 Jan 2026)
National Indigenous Times (21 Jan 2026)
standing in solidarity on noongar boodjar today through listening, learning, truth‑telling and following the lead of first nations voices
