Demonstrators clash as thousands join protests on Australia Day

Thousands of people have joined rallies in cities around Australia today, with Invasion Day events and March for Australia anti-immigration demonstrations taking place.

Thousands of people have joined rallies in cities around Australia today, with Invasion Day events scheduled across the country.

March for Australia anti-immigration rallies are also taking place.

January 26, the day Governor Arthur Phillip ran up the British flag at Sydney Cove, is officially Australia Day, but many around the country mark the date as "Invasion Day", recognising the dispossession of Indigenous Australians.

Protests are organised in every Australian capital today, with NSW Police announcing recently they had tweaked the extended protest ban in place in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack, in order to allow activists to march in certain areas of Sydney.

Warning: This article contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.

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The exclusion zone that was recently imposed in Melbourne's CBD, also following the Bondi attack, will not be in place today.

"There will be a highly visible police presence throughout the CBD, with a number of traffic management points in place," Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill told 9news.com.au.

He said police had been engaging "constructively" with protest organisers.

Sydney march kicks off in Hyde Park

Hundreds of people have gathered in Sydney's Hyde Park to march for Indigenous sovereignty.

There is a heavy police presence, including members of the riot squad, at the Invasion Day protest, which kicked off about 10am today.

The rally began with a moving tribute to Sophie Quinn, an Indigenous woman who was allegedly shot dead by her former partner in Lake Cargelligo in NSW last week.

Quinn's aunt Neruda and her friend John Harris were also killed in the shooting.

Protesters at today's rally are holding signs that read "Stop killing us" and "sovereignty never ceded".

Members of the Palestine Action Group are also in attendance in Hyde Park.

A March for Australia demonstration is under way in Sydney too.

The protesters began walking along Cleveland Street and are heading for Moore Park in the CBD.

Tensions have flared between opposing groups and a heavy police presence is on the ground.

One protester was seen carrying a sign that called to "free Joel Davis", the neo-Nazi leader who is accused of allegedly urging followers to "rhetorically rape" Wentworth MP Allegra Spender.

A brief scuffle broke out between Invasion Day demonstrators and a group of men with Australian flags, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Police officers intervened before the rally continued towards Broadway.

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Twin rallies in Melbourne's CBD

There are similar protests being held on the steps of Victorian Parliament in Melbourne's CBD and outside Flinders Street train station.

The crowd is considerably smaller than in previous years, however hundreds have still joined the rallies.

A smoking ceremony took place outside parliament to mark the beginning of today's protest.

A March for Australia rally is also underway in Melbourne's CBD.

Police are on the ground monitoring the protest as crowds flood the streets around Parliament House.

Some demonstrators could be heard chanting "always was, always will be, Aboriginal land".

9News captured footage of a confrontation between opposing protesters near the steps of parliament.

One woman was knocked to the ground during the scuffle.

Captain Cook statue under guard

A security guard is keeping an eye on a Captain Cook memorial statue in St Kilda after the monument was toppled by vandals on Australia Day two years ago.

Port Phillip Council hired a guard to protect the statue from potential defacement today.

The sculpture was sawn off at the ankles and painted with the words "the colony will fall" in 2024.

In 2022, red paint was also thrown across the statue over three consecutive days.

Pauline Hanson speaks to crowd in Brisbane

One Nation senator Pauline Hanson made an appearance at an Australia Day march in Brisbane's Botanic Gardens in the CBD.

The Hoodoo Gurus anthem What's My Scene? played as Hanson was welcomed to the stage.

She decried "mass migration" in Australia during her speech and said Anthony Albanese was the "worst prime minister I have ever known".

March for Australia protesters in Canberra

Meanwhile, in Canberra, an opposing March for Australia protest is taking place outside Parliament House.

The Australian Federal Police is out in full force as protesters wave Australian flags and march towards Lennox Gardens in Yarralumla.

An Invasion Day protest also began at 10am in Canberra and is expected to finish at Old Parliament House.

ACT Police warned the protests could cause traffic disruptions in the capital today.

'Zero tolerance' for hate speech, violence

NSW Premier Chris Minns said police are on high alert today for any protesters who violate federal legislation during the marches in Sydney today.

"There will be no tolerance for violence or hate speech on Sydney streets," Minns said.

"We live in a beautiful multicultural community with people from around the world, but we will not tolerate a situation where, on Australia's national day, it's been pulled down by divisive language, hate speech or racism."

Minns said he was confident protesters would respect exclusion zones and that police had been liaising with organisers for weeks to ensure today goes ahead without incident.

When asked about his plans to tighten protest laws further in NSW, the premier said he had not ruled out introducing stricter legislation.

"I do believe we have to confront this idea that the centre of Sydney can be dominated weekend after weekend after weekend by the same protest," he said.

"People have got a right to protest, but other Australians have a right to enjoy the city.

"My responsibility is to keep the people of NSW safe, and to balance those rights."

He said the state government would also look at changing the scope of hate slogan laws in the wake of federal laws, which were passed in parliament last week.

Recent polls, including from Resolve and Roy Morgan, indicate that support for keeping Australia Day on January 26 is rising.

Roy Morgan found that 72 per cent of respondents agreed Australia Day should retain its current name and date, compared to 28 per cent who disagreed.

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"This is the highest support for Australia Day recorded by Roy Morgan," chief executive Michele Levine said.

"There is majority support for Australia Day retaining its name and date across all age groups, genders, and all states."

However, there remains a political divide, with most Labor and Greens voters saying the date should be changed, while Liberal, National, and One Nation voters hugely supported it.