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CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY TODAY Australians join over 8,000 Clean Up events across the nation

Clean Up Australia

VIDEO NEWS FOOTAGE AND PHOTOS HERE  

 

Now in its 36th year, Clean Up Australia Day has once again had an incredible attendance  with over 750,000 volunteers coming together to help keep their local communities clean across more than 8,000 Clean Up events. While registrations are still being received, it has been another inspiring effort from volunteers right across Australia. The number of community events grew this year, as did supporting councils - a wonderful demonstration of community in action to deliver this huge day for the environment.

 

Clean Up Australia Day is the nation's largest community-based environmental event and more than 23 million Australians have participated in Clean Up activities since its inception. It is the most practical way to educate and demonstrate litter prevention. Clean Up events are happening all across the country, from the beaches of Broome in WA to the shores of Botany Bay in Sydney. 

 

Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia says: “My Dad, the late Ian Kiernan AO, founder of Clean Up Australia, was a practical man of action. He picked up a bag, got his gloves on and got to work. That first Clean Up along Sydney Harbour in 1989, was a simple act of love for his country and the environment, and it has grown into the largest community Clean Up event in Australia. 

 

“Every year, without fail, Australians show up. Rain, hail or shine, people right across this country get their gloves on and get to work to care for the place they call home. To every single volunteer who gave time on their Sunday today, thank you. You are the reason this movement is still going and growing after 36 years.

 

"Our latest Litter Report FY25 is a reminder of why days like today matter. Plastics make up more than 80% of all litter found across Australia, cigarette butts are now the most littered individual item, and vapes are turning up at more than a third of surveyed Clean Up sites. This is what our volunteers are finding under their feet today, and it is a call to action for every single one of us." Pip concluded.

 

Pip and community volunteers were joined this morning by Olympic diver Sam Fricker and the Gamay Rangers, led by Robert Cooley (Bintar), at Frenchman's Beach, La Perouse, a nod to Clean Up Australia's enduring connection to Australia's waterways and a celebration of the First Nations community's ongoing work to restore and protect Botany Bay (Gamay). 

 

Other major events across the country included Brisbane, where Clean Up Australia CEO Jenny Geddes, sustainability ambassador Elyse Knowles and Ubuntu Foundation founder Carolyn Vincent were joined by The Honourable Murray Watt, Federal Minister for the Environment and Water and local member Julie-Ann Campbell MP at Koala Park, Moorooka. In Melbourne, three-time Olympian and bronze medallist Rhydian Cowley, David Neitz, former AFL Melbourne FC captain and Joe Pincus, Rugby Sevens Olympian led volunteers along the Yarra River, with participants paddling and walking to collect litter from the waterway and its banks.

 

Video News Release (VNR) and Photos are available to all news outlets now. Details of VNR contents below: 

 

Event: Clean Up Australia Day 2026

 

Q&A with Pip Kiernan, Clean Up Australia Chair

• Clean Up Australia is now in its 36th year. How does it feel to be here today?

• Your father, the late Ian Kiernan AO, started it all those years ago. How and why did he start it? How would he feel today?

• Why was Frenchman's Beach, La Perouse chosen as this year's main Clean Up location?

• Tell us about the Gamay Rangers and the work they do to protect Botany Bay.

• How many Clean Up events are taking place across Australia today and how many volunteers are participating?

• How are volunteer numbers in comparison to other years?

• What are you expecting to be the top three types of litter volunteers find today?

• What was the most reported type of litter from past years' Clean Up events?

• Can you participate in a Clean Up beyond 1 March?

• What other ways can you get involved to help Clean Up Australia?

 

Q&A with Sam Fricker, Olympic Diver and Sustainability Champion

• What do you love about Clean Up Australia Day?

• Why is Clean Up Australia Day so important?

• How many Clean Up Australia Days have you participated in?

• What is a practical everyday habit Aussies could change to help avoid litter from entering the environment in the first place?

• What more do you think Australians need to do to solve our ongoing waste challenges? 

 

Q&A with Robert Cooley (Bintar), Leader of the Gamay Rangers

• Can you tell us about the Gamay Rangers and your connection to Botany Bay?

• What does it mean to have Clean Up Australia Day held here at Frenchman's Beach this year?

• What are the most significant environmental challenges facing Botany Bay today?

• What is the most common litter or pollution you see in and around the bay?

• How can everyday Australians help protect waterways like Botany Bay?

• What message do you have for Australians about caring for Country?

Additional footage: The VNR also includes general candid footage of Pip, Sam, the Gamay Rangers and lots of volunteers in action collecting litter along Frenchman's Beach, La Perouse. According to the FY25 Clean Up Australia Litter Report, plastics represent 80.8% of all counted litter nationally, cigarette butts account for 23.6%, and vapes are now found at 33.9% of surveyed sites, up 23.5% over three years.

Tags and information

Instagram @cleanupaustralia

TIkTok @cleanupaustralia  

Hashtags: #CleanUpAustralia #CleanUpAustraliaDay #CUAD26 #GetYourGlovesOn 

Website: www.cleanup.org.au 

About us:

About Clean Australia 

Founded by Ian Kiernan, AO in 1990, Clean Up Australia is one of the country’s most recognised and trusted environmental organisations, inspiring and mobilising communities to improve and conserve our environment, eliminate litter and end waste. Clean Up Australia Day is the nation's largest community-based environmental event, and more than 23 million volunteers have participated since its inception, with more than a million now joining Clean Ups each year.

Clean Up Australia works with community, governments and businesses to provide practical solutions to help all Australians live more sustainably every day of the year. Today the organisation’s focus is as much on preventing litter entering our environment as it is removing what has already accumulated.

 

Contact details:

Lisa Poisel, [email protected], 0412 151 664

Phoebe Price

[email protected]

0410 113 449