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January 25, 2026 — 5:10pm
Anti-immigration protesters are set to converge for the annual Invasion Day rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Monday, as police don extra protective gear after similar protests in October turned violent.
The Invasion Day rally will start at 11am outside Parliament House, and previous protests have gone through the CBD and ended up outside Flinders Street Station. The opposing March for Australia is to start outside Flinders Street Station at 12pm.
March for Australia rallies are typically anti-immigration, however Monday’s event 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.
“Across the country, a small but loud group of anti-Australian activists is working to redefine who we are, what our traditions mean, and even what Australia Day represents,” the March for Australia event page says.
The conflict comes just days after this masthead revealed details of an online chat run by March for Australia organisers that is prevalent with neo-Nazis and included threats to kidnap Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and send bombs to mosques through the post, which prompted two separate police raids.
Experts have also warned of a growing underbelly of online extremism, which typically escalates around Australia Day.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the force was well-prepared for the rallies and had been engaging with protest organisers, with no intelligence currently suggesting 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 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.
A previous declaration that would have been in place until May was withdrawn ahead of a Federal Court hearing on Friday, which found the move was invalid and unlawfully breached the human rights charter.
Swaths of attendees at March for Australia events have sought to distance themselves from neo-Nazis, even after National Socialist Network (NSN) 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.
The NSN says it has now disbanded to avoid new hate speech laws that allow the federal government to crack down on prohibited hate groups.
NSW Police are also investigating a threat sent to Sydney’s well-known Lakemba Mosque, which warned of co-ordinated violence as “revenge” against minorities at Australia Day rallies.
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