The first official Australia Day celebration took place in 1818.
The event marked the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. Governor Lachlan Macquarie declared the anniversary a holiday for government workers in New South Wales, supplied each worker with an extra pound of fresh meat, and ordered a 30-gun salute at Dawes Point—one gun for each year of the colony’s existence.
At the time, the occasion was generally known as Anniversary Day or Foundation Day rather than Australia Day. Earlier gatherings had been informal, including anniversary dinners, but Macquarie’s 1818 decision created the first official celebration and began a tradition maintained by later governors.
The date did not immediately become a uniform national holiday. States and colonies used different names and commemorative days, and the name Australia Day was not settled nationally until the 20th century. The date became a public holiday in every state and territory by 1940, while 26 January remains contested and is also observed by many people as Invasion Day or Survival Day.