Australia Day: Why young Aussies are shunning their national holiday

Only a few years ago, on Australia Day, you would have found Kaitlyn decked out in flag-adorned regalia and poolside with a beer and barbecue sausage, proudly celebrating the holiday like millions of others.

"I used to host parties… I used to be really into it," the 24-year-old tells the BBC.

But Kaitlyn is now part of a growing cohort of young Australians and others who are shunning the national day.

The date - 26 January - is the anniversary of the 1788 landing of Britain's First Fleet, which began the era of colonisation.

It was also when Indigenous people began being oppressed - massacred, dispossessed of their lands and cut off from their culture.

Some argue Australia Day is an opportunity to reflect on and rejoice in what Australia has become today, despite that history. But others say it is a day of mourning, and its celebration is offensive and hurtful.

Kaitlyn - who asked not to give her surname - says she was never taught that perspective at school in Queensland. But as the debate gained prominence in recent years, she began seeking out more information.

And as she learned, she became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of honouring the day.

Kaitlyn hasn't celebrated Australia Day for years - and on Thursday, she won't observe it at all. The IT worker has asked her manager to work and take another day off instead.

"I love day-drinking as much as the next guy. And I'm proud to be Aussie and I love this country - I can see why people want to celebrate Australia and get the tacky tattoos out. It's just that that specific date for a lot of people means hurt and pain."

A campaign to "change the date" has been growing momentum in Australia. Many public figures - from Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff to actor Chris Hemsworth and pioneering Indigenous cricketer Jason Gillespie - have advocated for a different date.

Several councils have moved their citizenship ceremonies, traditionally held on 26 January, to other days. The Victorian state government this year cancelled its annual Australia Day parade. More employers - like supermarket giant Woolworths and telecoms company Telstra - are giving staff the option to work and take another day off instead. Retailer Kmart has stopped selling Australia Day merchandise.

And annual "Invasion Day" or "Survival Day" protests are growing.

Recent polls indicate about a third of Australians changing the date, and fewer people are holding celebrations on 26 January each year. For under-35s, for moving Australia Day is even stronger - about 50%.

Australia's previous conservative government - in power from 2013 until last year - consistently rejected calls to change the date.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his Labor government has no plans to move it either, although he has relaxed rules which forced councils and public service staff to mark the day.

The response from Australian politicians has frustrated 24-year-old Jarrah Brailey. And so a few years ago, the small business founder decided to simply change the date herself.

Her team works on 26 January, in solidarity with Aboriginal people like her two half-brothers, who feel excluded from a day that is supposed to unite Australia.

"It cost absolutely zero dollars and it was as easy as sending out a message to my team letting them know," she says.

Not only are her 10 staff ive of the decision, they're proud of it, she says.

Actually changing the date on a national level could be easy too, she believes, because people aren't particularly attached to the historical meaning of the day.

"We think we're celebrating our country… and that could be done on any day of the year," she says. "Why does it have to be on that day":[]}