Australia Day 2024

Chinchilla Cultural Centre 

 80-86 Heeney Street

Australia Day Breakfast From 7:00am
Awards Ceremony From 8:00am

Chinchilla Aquatic Centre

97 Middle Street

Family fun at pool From 11am

• Discounted Entry $2.50

   

Mary's Place

120 Cunningham Street

Australia Day Breakfast From 7:00am
Awards Ceremony From 8:00am

Dalby Aquatic Centre

58 Patrick Street

Family fun at pool From 11am

• Discounted Entry $2.50

Citizenship Ceremony | Thursday, 25 January 2024, 6pm

The Western Downs' newest citizens will also be welcomed at a special Citizenship Ceremony, which will be held in the evening before Australia Day amongst the beautiful surrounds of the region's newest public space, Mary's Place.

Athlone Cottage Jandowae

33 Dalby Street

Australia Day Breakfast From 7:30am
Awards Ceremony From 8:30am
Live Music

Miles Historical Village

141 Murilla Street

Australia Day Breakfast From 7:30am
Awards Ceremony From 8:30am

Miles Aquatic Centre

127 Marian Street

Family fun at pool From 11am

• Discounted Entry $2.50

   

Tara Lagoon Parklands

Colour Fun Run From 7:30am

Tara Soldiers Memorial Hall

Fry Street

Australia Day Breakfast From 8:30am
Awards Ceremony From 9:30am

Tara Aquatic Centre

42 Smallacombe Sreet

Family fun at pool From 11am

• Discounted Entry $2.50

   

Juandah Heritage Site

92 Windeyer Road

Australia Day Breakfast From 7:00am
Awards Ceremony From 8:30am
Live Music

Habib Jamal

President Queensland Muslims Inc.

Habib Jamal is the president of the Islamic Council of Qld (ICQ) and has supported the Muslim community with consistent leadership across more than 60 different nationalities, all with different spiritual and cultural needs.

Habib has led multiple projects during his time a President of the ICQ, including fundraising for bushfire recovery, creating training opportunities for youth, and working jointly with other religions during COVID-19 to develop plans for Places of Worship. He is the Multicultural Ambassador for Mental Health Foundation Australia, and continues his ongoing charity work and fundraising for communities.

Habib works towards the goals of unifying the very diverse Muslim community and supporting others in need.

Michael Sanford

Founder and Director Bunyarra Wellbeing Co

Michael Sanford walked away from a full-time job in 2019 to tackle a major crisis overwhelming the South Burnett region of south-east Queensland – suicide. The Burnett local area records the second highest suicide rate in Australia.

As a former local youth worker, Michael had seen the ongoing gaps in mental health services and the need to address them. He founded Bunyarra Wellbeing Co and immediately began to tackle how the community talks about and responds to mental health and suicide.

In 2020, he partnered with a Queensland Government energy provider to remove any barriers to employees accessing mental health services. He developed and delivered a program designed to improve mental health services on worksites – with five suicide interventions recorded in the first five weeks.

Since then, he’s created and delivered multiple programs to improve mental wellbeing in the workplace and more broadly in the community.

Melissa McGuiness

Co-founder YOU CHOOSE Programs

Melissa McGuinness is the co-founder of YOU CHOOSE Programs. YOU CHOOSE is a multi award-winning, not-for-profit charity described as 'Australia's youth-led mission to change driving culture'. Highly acclaimed by students, parents, police, educators and academics, YOU CHOOSE Youth Road Safety is the award recipient of the 10th Annual Australian Road Safety Award Recipients for School Programs. The program has recently surpassed 100,000 participants Australia-wide.

Melissa and her husband Peter continue to pursue best-practice in teen behavioural engagement, youth leadership and insights into how the YOU CHOOSE social mission inspires young people to protect their families and their communities from the preventable misery of road trauma.

Melissa was a Queensland nominee for the Australian of the Year in 2021 and 2022. Melissa was also the 2020 Gold Coast Woman of the Year People's Choice.

Peter Timms

Professor of Microbiology University of Sunshine Coast

Peter Timms is Professor of Microbiology at the University of Sunshine Coast. He is a microbiologist and a highly regarded global authority in the major infectious disease threats to koalas, including Chlamydia and Koala Retrovirus, where he is recognised as the research authority.

Based in Queensland, Peter is leading the race to develop vaccines to safeguard this Australian icon from extinction—championing the underpinning science, its trialling and translation, and giving further to Queensland by supervising PhD students, mentoring early career researchers and working with numerous local koala carer/rescue groups. Timms' team is spearheading the development of a vaccine. The results suggest that the vaccine could be a game-changer for the koala's future survival. Peter's inspiring research and passion for koala science may be the critical factor to save our Australian koala population.