Community & Business
16 January, 2026
Australia Day Awards on the move
Oakey’s Australia Day Civic Awards ceremony is moving from Arthur Shooter Park to the Oakey Cultural Centre after Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) was unwilling to bear liability for the games section of the event.
TRC’s Community Development, Facilities and Tourism portfolio spokesperson and Australia Day Coordinating Working Group chair Cr James O’Shea said Council warmly invites all Oakey residents to the new venue.
“This year’s Oakey celebrations will look a little different,” Cr O’Shea said.
“Following a review and the formation of a new Local Australia Day Working Group, some activities from previous years, including the Oakey Australia Day games at Arthur Shooter Park, will not feature in this year’s Council-authorised program.
“Council undertook a thorough risk assessment of all proposed activities and reviewed insurance provisions for the event. This process identified risks with the previously staged games that could not be adequately covered, effectively ruling this component out of the program.
“This was despite collaborative efforts by Council to secure alternative insurance arrangements.
“The new Working Group, working closely with Council, is focused on delivering a safe, inclusive and enjoyable celebration that reflects the values and expectations of the Oakey community.
“While some traditional activities will not take place, residents can look forward to a refreshed program and are encouraged to participated in the day’s festivities.
“Other Australia Day activities in Oakey and surrounds include events at the Bernborough Tavern, Grand Hotel and Jondaryan Woolshed.”
The decision to cancel the games came after four long-serving members of the 2025 Australia Day Working Group chose not to reapply to be volunteers this year.
These four volunteers Craig Commens, Fay Telford, Jim Austin and Jason Lee decided not to re-apply to volunteer this year after having felt disrespected and stonewalled by TRC during the 2025 Australia Day organisation process.
Two of the volunteers spoke with The Oakey Champion.
Craig Commens said TRC had never been keen on the Australia Day games and the process for approval was harder than ever in 2025.
“They’ve been putting pressure on us and winding things back for years,” he said.
“(With the raft games), first they said there was PFAS (forever chemicals) in the water and there were tests done to show otherwise, then they said e.coli, then by 2025 they just said no.
“Then they banned everyone from sitting on the dunnies for the dunny race.
“Last year, there were so many extra meetings, we’d ask questions and the answer was always ‘I don’t know’.
“They sacked all the Australia Day committees, and it was clearly aimed at our event and our committee, and asked everyone to re-apply to be a part of their ‘Working Group’.
“(Under the new conditions) you can’t talk to Councillors, you can’t talk to the media to promote your event, they just want you to shut up and work for Council.
“If you relied on Council’s promotion, you’d probably have three people show up! We were the headline story on Channel 7 National News in 2025, and we were the biggest event in Australia in COVID years.”
Long time Oakey Australia Day organiser Fay Telford made her displeasure towards TRC known at last year’s Awards.
“They didn’t want us to do the games, bringing up risk and management stuff,” she said.
“At first they said (the raft game) was algae in the creek, then PFAS. I went to the Aviation lot to find out about PFAS and there was none in the creek.”
Fay said she will be hanging up her boots after 38 years of volunteering.
“Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working as a volunteer,” she said.
“I hope the current Working Group has a successful day and I wish this year’s nominees all the best and the future ones to come, too.”
Meanwhile, the 2025 Rosalie Awards are set to be hosted at Yarraman this year.
This is part of a new vision to share the event around the large district’s dispersed towns.
Breakfast starts at 8am with the formalities and awards to begin at 9am.
