Greater Hume mayor Heather Wilton said she believed a change from January 26 would occur sometime, given the public debate.

“As time moves on, I think that it will come up and it will be a decision that will have to be, and should be, made by us, the people,” she said.

Various suggestions had included January 1, May 9 (the opening of the first Australian Parliament) or even Anzac Day.

“Let’s think about it, give it some thought so that you’re not caught off-guard maybe when the day arises,” Cr Wilton said.

“We don’t want to upset anybody but we need to think about it.”

Greater Hume welcomed four new Australian citizens during its Australia Day ceremony at Jindera Recreation Reserve, which paused twice to allow people to move their seats into the shade.

The council also honoured the contributions of its six Citizen of the Year nominees, with the award shared between Diana Wegener, of Walla, and Henty’s Michael (Mick) Broughan.

Mrs Wegener, who has been actively involved in a range of sporting and service groups in Walla and Burrumbuttock, was described as always willing “to be there when there is work to be done”.

“Be part of your community,” she told the crowd.

“You receive a lot of satisfaction to make the place a better place to live in.”

Mr Broughan, “the local ‘go to person’ in Henty when something needs to be done or problems solved”, said his work on health committees particularly motivated him.

“When you get the results that you’re after, that’s very satisfying,” he said.

The Walbundrie Go Fish Day, which promotes safe fishing for all ages, was named Community Event of the Year while 14 students received school citizenship awards.

Mitchell O’Keeffe’s commitment to the Greater Hume youth advisory committee saw him awarded Young Citizen of the Year, with Jindera’s Zoe Briese highly commended.

Australia Day ambassador Patricia Garcia talked about the early influences that led her to more than 20 years of overseas humanitarian work.