Australia Day 2026 LIVE: Melbourne rallies to take place outside Parliament House, Flinders Street Station

It’s relatively quiet outside Flinders Street Station – for now – ahead of rallies later today.

Tourists are still filtering through to Fed Square and on to the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

A handful of police is gathered outside St Paul’s Cathedral, chatting among themselves as just one or two Australian flag-wearing men begin to gather on the church’s steps behind them.

A little further north, Collins Street is now blocked off with a barrier placed near the tram stop on the west side of Swanston Street as a few police wearing helmets gather there.

A few Aboriginal flags are scrawled in chalk on the road, noting that many First Nations people don’t celebrate today’s public holiday.

The Invasion Day rally will begin at Parliament nearby at 11am and normally marches down Bourke to Swanston, then turning south for Flinders Street.

However, the presence of March for Australia demonstrators may change their route.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said the force was well-prepared for the rallies and had been engaging with protest organisers. No intelligence currently suggested a heightened risk of violence.

“Victoria Police will not tolerate anyone intent on causing unruly, anti-social behaviour,” the spokesperson said.

However, general duties officers will wear helmets as “an additional layer of protection to ensure the safety of our frontline police”.

They will also be supported by the mounted branch, highway patrol, public order response team, transit police and PSOs.

“There will be a highly visible police presence throughout the CBD, with a number of traffic management points in place,” the spokesperson said.

The introduction of helmets comes after a trial late last year and is part of a broader attempt to improve police safety at high-risk events and in unpredictable crowd environments.

In October, rocks, glass and rotten fruit were thrown at officers during violent scuffles as they sought to keep order at a March for Australia rally and a counter-protest.

Police have not made a weapons search declaration for Melbourne’s CBD on Monday.

Melbourne’s annual Invasion Day rally, which begins at 11am at Parliament House, is held annually on the same day as Australia Day. It attracts thousands of activists in a protest against the public holiday and the country’s treatment of First Nations people. Dawn ceremonies were also held in Ballarat and Torquay.

March for Australia rallies are typically anti-immigration; however, today’s event, which begins midday at Flinders Street Station, appears to focus more on Australia Day and keeping the public holiday on January 26, directly opposing the Invasion Day rally’s push to mark the day on a different date.

Experts have also warned of a growing underbelly of online extremism, which typically escalates around Australia Day.

Swaths of attendees at March for Australia events have sought to distance themselves from neo-Nazis, even after National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell spoke at one of the group’s first events in Melbourne.

However, The Age has previously revealed that the rallies are being secretly controlled by neo-Nazis, using far-right influencers to sell the rallies as spontaneous and filled largely with everyday Australians.

Thousands of anti-immigration protesters and annual Invasion Day rally-goers will converge on Melbourne’s CBD today.

The Invasion Day rally will start at 11am outside Parliament House, while the opposing March for Australia will begin outside Flinders Street Station at noon.

Follow our live blog for updates.