Every year thousands of people are confirmed as new Australians.
Many of them attend citizenship ceremonies to make it official, with Australia Day being one of the most popular occasions to make that affirmation.
This year, about 300 councils held it on that day, but 36 did not.
Under new mandatory changes, Federal Minister for Citizenship David Coleman says all councils will have to hold them on January the 26th.
“People who are committing to Australia join us in this nation, to respect the laws and values of Australia and contribute to our fantastic multicultural society”
Councils who refuse to comply will have their right to hold citizenship ceremonies removed.
“We expect the vast, vast majority of councils to comply with that rule but if they don’t the federal government will step in and that council won’t be able to hold citizenship ceremonies anymore.”
The government flagged the changes earlier this year after a number of councils cancelled Australia Day celebrations out of respect for indigenous people.
Minister Coleman says he doesn't want the day to be politicized.
There are already two local councils in Victoria who had their right to hold ceremonies stripped about two years ago.
They are Yarra City Council in Melbourne's inner east and The City of Darebin in the north.
Darebin Mayor Susan Rennie says the council stands by that decision.
“Our council completely stands by the decision we made not to celebrate on the 26th of January. We've had really positive feedback from members of our community.
About that decision people feel proud to live in Darebin because of the decision we made here and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in particular have given us amazing feedback about how much more welcome and included they feel.”
She says the decision by the government to force councils to hold them on that day is unnecessary.
“Why on earth would the government get involved in what could be local decisions and why is the government politicizing citizenship ceremonies in this way?”
The Launceston City Council was the latest municipality to scrap its Australia Day celebrations, but now says it will have to follow the ruling.
Minister Coleman says councils will also have to create and enforce dress standards as part of the changes.
“Clearly when people come to something as important as a citizenship ceremony. When they're becoming an Australian, we want to make sure that people are treating that with appropriate respect and that's what the dress code is about.”
National and cultural dress will still be permitted.
There will be exemptions for some small councils in regional areas where there are few new citizens.
