For almost half a century, Advance Australia Fair has served as Australia's national anthem.

Originally written in 1878 and formally adopted in 1984, it has accompanied Australians through sporting triumphs, national celebrations and historic moments.

This petition is not a criticism of Advance Australia Fair, nor of its place in Australian history.

Rather, it asks a simple question:

If Australians were choosing a national anthem today, would we choose the same song?

Because there is one song that Australians know, love and sing.

Whether it's the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, the Australian Open, a backyard barbecue, a wedding, a pub, or a backpacker hostel on the other side of the world, Australians can identify the opening notes of Down Under within seconds.

In many cases, they can identify it after just the flute.

A Modern Australian Anthem
Down Under by Men at Work has become Australia's unofficial anthem.

It captures many of the qualities Australians value most:

• Humour without arrogance.
• Pride without taking ourselves too seriously.
• Adventure, travel and openness to the world.
• A uniquely Australian identity recognised across the globe.
• A shared cultural experience that transcends age, politics and geography.

Most importantly:
Australians actually sing it.

The Practical Benefits
Adopting Down Under as Australia's national anthem would offer several practical benefits:

• Increased participation during anthem performances.
• Greater engagement from younger Australians.
• Stronger international recognition of Australian culture.
• Improved atmosphere at sporting events.
• A substantial reduction in Australians pretending they know the second verse of Advance Australia Fair.
• The elimination of awkward anthem mumbling.
• A significant increase in flute appreciation nationwide.

Our Proposal
We respectfully call on the Australian Government to establish a national review and public vote on Australia's national anthem, including consideration of Down Under by Men at Work as a replacement for Advance Australia Fair.

Australia has changed significantly since the 1977 anthem plebiscite.

Nearly fifty years later, Australians deserve the opportunity to decide whether the song that best represents the nation today is the one they are already singing.

After all, if 80,000 Australians can sing every word at a sporting event without looking at a screen, perhaps that's worth considering.

And if we're already singing it, we may as well make it official.