Australia Day ban: Australian Venue Co cancel celebrations at over 200 locations over ‘hurt’ and ‘sadness’

Max Corstorphan

The Nightly

4 Min Read

4 hours ago

Australian Venue Co has told managers celebrations or acknowledgement of Australia Day is banned in 2025. Credit: Oleksii - stock.adobe.com

Australia Day celebrations have been cancelled at over 200 pubs and bars across Australia as the owner of the nations second-largest pub group says the day causes “sadness “ and “hurt” for patrons.

Australian Venue Co has told managers celebrations or acknowledgement of Australia Day is banned for all of its premises in 2025.

A spokesperson for the pub group told the Herald Sun they celebrate “what makes Australia great” across the year within their venues.

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“Australia Day is a day that causes sadness for some members of our community, so we have decided not to specifically celebrate a day that causes hurt for some of our patrons and our team,” the spokesperson said.

Australian Venue Co is owned by Asian Private Equity Group PAG.

The move follows other businesses taking the stance against Australia Day, including Woolworths Group.

Earlier in 2024, the supermarket giant found itself at the centre of a firestorm of controversy when it confirmed it would not stock any Australia Day-specific merchandise ahead of January 26.

At the time, the decision prompted Opposition leader Peter Dutton to urge shoppers to boycott Woolworths and then CEO Brad Banducci was forced to plead with customers to “treat our team with the respect they deserve” after several threats of violence.

After the backlash, Woolworths, who sponsored the 2024 Paris Olympics, announced it would sell flags instore ahead of the games.

“The sale of the locally-made Australian flag is timed to arrive in stores ahead of the start of the Olympic Games,” the note read.

“In selling the Australian flag, we acknowledge that we disappointed many of you and our customers when we decided not to sell Australian-themed merchandise in January this year.

“We have listened and accepted that, as a proud Australian retailer, that many in the community expected us to offer customers the choice of purchasing the nation’s flag when shopping with us.”