Poll finds majority back Australian long weekend over 26 January

New national polling suggests most Australian voters would rather a guaranteed summer long weekend than keep the Australia Day public holiday fixed on 26 January.

Independent research by YouGov, commissioned by ethical super fund Future Super on behalf of Clothing The Gaps and the Australian Long Weekend campaign, found 54 per cent of Australian voters preferred an “Australian Long Weekend” on the second‑last Monday of January – a day that never falls on 26 January.

The survey was conducted online from 14–22 January 2026 with a nationally representative sample of 1,508 voters aged 18 and over. Respondents were sourced from the YouGov panel and incentivised with redeemable points. The data were weighted to match the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates for eligible voters, and the stated margin of error is 3.07 per cent.

Support for the long‑weekend option was strongest among younger voters. The poll reports backing of 70 per cent among people aged 18–24, 63 per cent among those 25–34, 59 per cent for 35–49, and 51 per cent for 50–64. Voters aged 65 and over were the only age group opposed overall, with 63 per cent favouring the existing 26 January date.

The trend was consistent across the country. Inner metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas both recorded 55 per cent support for the Australian Long Weekend proposal, while provincial cities, regional towns, and rural Australia were all at 54 per cent. Community News Hub Aboriginal C… States showing majority support included Western Australia (57 per cent), New South Wales (55 per cent), Victoria (54 per cent), and Queensland (54 per cent), with South Australia evenly split. Parents of children under 18 – a voting bloc often seen as decisive in federal elections – backed the long‑weekend option by 57 per cent.

The proposal would move the public holiday from 26 January to the second‑last Monday in January, creating a three‑day national event designed to “bring people together rather than divide us” according to campaign material.

Campaigners argue the shift would create distance from a date many First Nations people mark as a Day of Mourning, Invasion Day, or Survival Day. Clothing The Gaps notes that 26 January marks the beginning of British colonisation and dispossession for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and that Aboriginal activists first declared it a Day of Mourning in 1938 under the leadership of Yorta Yorta man William Cooper and the Aborigines Progressive Association.

Laura Thompson, Gunditjmara woman and CEO of Clothing The Gaps, has framed the debate as part of long‑running calls for truth‑telling about what 26 January represents. She has said the date “marks invasion and dispossession, not a national celebration” for many First Nations people, and that the new polling shows the wider public “is now ready to listen”.

Australian Long Weekend co‑convenor Phil Jenkyn OAM said the poll demonstrates appetite for a constructive compromise. “This isn’t about taking something away; it’s about finding a solution that works,” he said, arguing that a long‑weekend holiday could maintain a summer celebration while avoiding a day that causes harm to First Nations communities.

The YouGov research sits alongside other polling that points in different directions. A recent survey reported found a record number of Australians wanted to maintain Australia Day on 26 January, highlighting that broader public opinion remains divided.

For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, however, the meaning of the date has been contested for close to a century. The 1938 Day of Mourning in Sydney is widely seen as a starting point for modern 26 January protests, which later included the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and the growth of Invasion Day and Survival Day rallies around the country.