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Woolworths workers will now have the option to skip Australia Day, after Channel 10 announced it would not celebrate the national holiday.
The supermarket giant said it decided to relax Australia Day in recognition of the pain January 26 represents for indigenous peoples.
Woolworths, which has more than 160,000 workers across Australia, is the latest in a series of companies to announce that staff can choose to work on January 26 and take another day of leave instead.
Woolworths employees can choose whether to celebrate Australia Day and workers are told they can take January 26 off or change it to another date.
Woolworths said the decision is a recognition of what January 26 stands for indigenous peoples and encouraged its workers to ‘mark the day however they see fit’ (an Australia Day reveller pictured)
“With over 160,000 team members across the country, we’re proud to be a snapshot of Australian society,” a Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘To that end, we recognize that January 26 means different things to different people. We believe that it is up to each member of the team to mark the day as suits them.
‘Our priority is to create a safe and supportive environment in our stores and sites and to create a workplace where every team member can belong.
“We remain focused on our reconciliation commitments, including supporting the goals of the Uluru Declaration from the heart.”
Media giant Channel 10, Telstra and accounting firms Deloitte (above), KPMG and EY have also told employees they can choose a day off to celebrate Australia Day instead of January 26.
Media giant Channel 10, Telstra and accounting firms Deloitte, KPMG and EY have also given employees the option to celebrate Australia Day.
In an internal email, Network 10 told staff they can choose how they spend the national holiday and that it was “not a day to celebrate” for indigenous Australians.
Paramount owns Network Ten and Chief Content Officer Beverley McGarvey and Co-Head Jarrod Villani only referred to Australia Day as ‘January 26’ in an email sent to all programming and editorial staff last week. .
The couple told staff the date was “not a day of celebration” for indigenous peoples and said employees could decide whether to take the day off as a public holiday or work.
“At Paramount ANZ, our aim is to create a safe place to work where cultural differences are appreciated, understood and respected,” the couple wrote in the email, first published by The Australian’s Media Diary column.
‘For our First Nations people, we as an organization recognize that January 26 is not a day of celebration.
“We recognize that there has been a turbulent history, particularly around that date and the recognition that that date is Australia Day.
“We recognize that January 26 evokes different emotions for our employees across the company, and we are responsive to employees who may not feel comfortable taking this day as a public holiday.”
KPMG said in a statement that its staff will also be allowed to skip Australia Day.
KPMG’s cultural license policy allows people to change an existing holiday to a different day, so they can recognize and celebrate religious or significant events relevant to their culture, indigenous heritage or religious beliefs. This also applies to Australia Day,” a company spokeswoman said.
Controversy has surrounded the celebration of Australia Day in recent years, with many calling for the date to be changed in regards to Indigenous Australians.
Various councils across the country have boycotted the holiday, saying it does not align with their views.
January 26, 1788 was the day the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove, and Governor Arthur Phillip raised a Union Jack flag.
The date has become increasingly controversial, with many indigenous people observing it as a day of mourning, labeling it ‘Invasion Day’ instead.
Earlier this year, the Labor Party removed a controversial rule imposed by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison that required councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26.
Councils can now hold citizenship ceremonies anytime from January 23-29.
Merri-bek Council in North Melbourne recently announced that it would stop holding citizenship ceremonies on January 26 and instead host a mourning ceremony to recognize the experiences of Indigenous Australians.
“The very idea of celebrating, having parties and welcoming new people to this country on this day is pretty shameful,” Councilor James Conlan said at a local council meeting earlier this month.
“In a deeply twisted irony… the council asks First Nations elders to conduct their culturally significant welcome-to-country ceremony on a day that signifies their own disposition.”
Merri-bek Council is the third Melbourne council to disrupt Australia Day citizenship ceremonies, after Yarra and Darebin councils did the same in 2017.
Those two councils are now barred from hosting citizenship ceremonies at any time of the year, following an order by the then coalition federal government.
Melbourne City Council also voted in September to advocate for the federal government to change the date of Australia Day.
Citizenship ceremonies will still take place in the town on January 26, but the council will also support efforts to recognize First Nations perspectives on the day.
The Inner West Council in Sydney and Moreland in Melbourne have also scrapped their Australia Day events this year, while Byron Bay Council has moved its citizenship ceremony to January 25.