The City of Perth has cancelled the annual Survival Day concert and family day - Birak - sparking criticism.
Artist Karla Hart wrote on social media that many people had contacted her about the concert as she has "been involved for many years with my dance group and/or as a MC".
"As far as I know there is NO CONCERT/family day on Survival Day/Australia Day for mob and allies in Perth City and there is no more BIRAK," she wrote.
"Pretty sad I know, as it was running for a long time and always a deadly day.
"If you feel strongly about this, write to the City of Perth."
Staunch Bibbulmun community leader, Tanesha Bennell wrote: "...the annual Birak Concert, a safe space for mob to come together and grieve, mourn, hold each other has not been organised this year by the City of Perth."
The post referred to the City celebrating January 26 as 'Australia Day' and noted those events were "advertised alongside a 'truth-telling event about Aboriginal History' hosted by who? Australia Day Council of WA no less".
"It's actually laughable at least the colonisers are owning their backwards behaviour of celebrating massacres and genocide... they're telling us straight up that these celebrations don't include mob, aren't for the Traditional Owners of this country," they wrote.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds told National Indigenous Times that "the decision not to proceed with the Birak Concert, traditionally held on 26 January, was made following feedback from key stakeholders and contractors".
"Attendance had declined steadily over the past three years, from crowds of around 10,000 in the early years of the event to approximately 3,500 attendees in 2025," he said.
The Lord Mayor said the City "delivered a new cultural celebration in its place", the Perth Multicultural Festival at Elizabeth Quay last November.
The Festival had no specific connection to Indigenous culture or community and no connection whatsoever with Survival Day. It featured performances from nations including Brazil, Burundi, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, South Sudan and Thailand. The event finale featured a fireworks display with an original soundtrack by Noongar singer-songwriter Phil Walley-Stack.
Mr Reynolds said the festival "also honoured Western Australia's First Nations heritage, thoughtfully connecting cultural history with the State's contemporary multicultural identity" but did not specify how this was done.
The Lord Mayor said the City will host its 'Australia Day' celebrations at Langley Park on January 26, with the program to open with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, and featuring "a dedicated Multicultural Zone that will honour Aboriginal culture while recognising the evolving diversity of Western Australia as new Australian citizens are welcomed".
