Australia Day revelers well behaved

The Canberra community celebrated Australia Day with no major incidents, no charges laid and well-behaved crowds enjoying the festivities across the weekend and on Australia Day (Tuesday 26 January).

During the Australia Day celebrations which took place across Canberra yesterday, crowds were well behaved with no arrests or major incidents. During the Australia Celebrates event on Monday (25 January) evening, the vast majority of the crowd was well behaved, with only one young man apprehended for possession of cannabis and one adult man apprehended for Breach Of the Peace.

“Overall, Canberrans enjoyed their Australia Day celebrations responsibly. The crowds at events were mostly well behaved and Canberra coped well with a few necessary road closures,” Australia Day Operations Commander Acting Superintendent Rod Anderson said.

“We also saw the vast majority of the crowd showing patience when it came to traffic congestion around the events. There were a few minor parking issues, which created tension between some drivers. However, we were pleased that these issues were resolved without escalating.”

“We’re always pleased when major events like this end well, without any incidents detracting from the celebrations.”

ACT Policing focused on road safety over the Australia Day long weekend, with double demerits enforced for mobile phone, speeding and seatbelt offences, with an extra point for all other traffic offences.

ACT Policing received 15 reports of vehicle collisions on ACT roads between Friday and Tuesday (22-27 January), with three collisions resulting in injury.