Bendigo's mayor is urging people to remain respectful when discussing Indigenous matters after her council decided to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on January 26.
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Cr Andrea Metcalf made the comments shortly after the council voted for a new "statement of intent" on its relationship with Traditional Owners.
"Irrespective of personal feelings, words can have impact and a large effect on a person's wellbeing," she said.
Indigenous Bendigonians have reported a rise in hurtful and racist comments during toxic debates about the Voice in the lead up to the referendum later this year.
The City of Greater Bendigo's decision on Monday night to change the date of Australia Day citizenship ceremonies appears to have heightened concerns among council leaders.
"Whether online or face-to-face, please be kind and respectful to each other," Cr Metcalf said.
"You don't have to agree, and if you do then that's always welcome."
Cr Metcalf said the council's new statement of intent was not designed to take anything away.
The statement - which was billed as a "clear demonstration of Council's increased understanding and leadership on the issue" - was coupled with a shift of Bendigo's Australia Day citizenship ceremony to January 25.
It also opened the door to a new Australia Day event acknowledging on January 26, which would acknowledge some of the troubling history of this nation's relations with Indigenous people, including dispossession, exclusion and violence.
The council would work with Greater Bendigo's Traditional Owners on the event for all members of the First Nations community.
There would be no change to Australia Day events run by community groups or to the date itself, which is chosen by the federal government.
The council would advocate for a federal "review" of January 26, given its connection to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the beginning of a centuries-long cycle of Indigenous trauma.
Cr David Fagg conceded it was "undoubtedly true" that whatever date Australia Day was celebrated, Indigenous people's dispossession would be the same.
"But advocating to move this celebration from its current date to one less freighted with historical trauma is a minor step in the right direction, and one that we should take," he said.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
