AUSTRALIA DAY 2025

AUSTRALIA DAY 2025

26 January 2025

Ulaanbaatar. Australia Day is observed on 26 January every year. On our national day, we reflect on 65,000 years of history and culture. We celebrate our nation, its achievements and most of all, its people.

This is a day to reflect on what it means to be Australian, to celebrate contemporary Australia, and to acknowledge our history and respect the survival, resilience, and rich cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australia today is a diverse nation with people from over 300 ancestries.

“Australia Day is an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Australian; our equalitarian principles; our quality of life; our belief in opportunity for all. These foundations have permeated into the wider bilateral relationship with Mongolia. Australia and Mongolia are united by our principles – democratic, open economies that value human rights – and strong educational, economic, security and people-to-people linkages” said Ms Katie Smith, Australian Ambassador to Mongolia.

The year 2024 marked a significant milestone in Australia-Mongolia relations. The President of the Australian Senate, Senator the Hon Sue Lines, along with parliamentary delegation visited Mongolia, deepening the ties between our two countries. Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, Stephanie Copus Campbell, participated in the World Women’s Forum. Mongolia’s Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources led a delegation to Australia’s IMARC conference.

Our economic ties were further strengthened. In 2024, Australia and Mongolia signed an Air Services Agreement and started negotiations on a Social Security Agreement. We forged new agreements on energy and saw positive progress on our joint mining projects, including Oyu Tolgoi, that will make firm contributions to Mongolia’s economic growth.

We grew our education cooperation by increasing our long-term scholarships to 17 for 2025, saw around 8,000 Mongolians study in Australia in 2024, 20 Australian institutions participated in our Education Fair and four Australian universities brought students to Mongolia. Australia's development cooperation with Mongolia was strengthened through the signing of two new partnerships to support the TVET sector and to enhance women’s climate resilience in Mongolia.

As a steadfast third neighbour, Australia values our dialogue with Mongolia as an Indo-Pacific partner. Our strategic ties continue to deepen with senior officials and defence policy talks held in 2024 and our Defence cooperation continues to thrive focused on exchange, education and training and participation in peacekeeping exercises.

This year, the Australian Embassy in Mongolia is kicking off Australia Day with the business community in Ulaanbaatar and Australians living in Mongolia at the Oyu Tolgoi site. Looking ahead, the Embassy will host Australia Week in March 2025, showcasing our partnership across all sectors.