The annual 'Invasion Day' protests will be taking place for the first time while the country is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. As a result organisers across the country have set about rethinking and adjusting the way the march will operate.
The strategies and guidelines by organisers will be similar to those conducted during the Black Lives Matter protests in June.
However, the protests have been called into question over public safety concerns, particularly in cities like Sydney and Melbourne -- which usually have the largest turnouts.
Sydney Invasion Day organiser Lynda Coe told The Feed their group has applied for an exemption with their lawyers to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.
And Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday that protests on January 26 will be different given the world is still contending with a global pandemic.
"It's no time to be protesting, it just isn't. We've built something precious and unique, Victorians have, through their sacrifice and their commitment and their compassion for each other and we have to safeguard that," Mr Andrews said.
But organisers in these cities, which have had the largest amount of coronavirus case numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, believe they've planned according to public health guidelines.
They have created a list of guidelines for those planning on attending that can be accessed through a QR code.
They include mandatory mask-wearing, those with flu-like symptoms are being instructed to stay at home, groups of a hundred people will be separated by 10 meters and those in these groups will be instructed by marshals to be socially distant by 1.5 meters.
Invasion Day COVID Safe instructions. Source: Supplied
"We ensure that the public safety measures have followed very closely," Lynda Coe, an organiser for the protests in Sydney, told The Feed.
Coe said marshals at the protests in Sydney will carry extra masks and hand sanitiser to ensure their guidelines are accessible to people. Each person who has been temperature checked will receive a wristband clearing them for the march.
Currently, outdoor demonstrations are capped at 500 people in the Greater Sydney area, which includes the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Wollongong.
On the Facebook group for the march, there are just over two thousand people who've clicked to indicate they'll attend the event.
"Any protests must comply with the Public Health Order and have a COVID-safe plan in place," the NSW Health spokesperson told The Feed.
"People are reminded to sanitise and clean their hands regularly, physically distance from others where possible, and wear a face mask if you cannot physically distance.
"Any breaches of the order are a matter for NSW Police."
An organiser for the Melbourne Invasion Day protests told The Feed they had been hard at work liaising with health professionals when they created their COVIDSafe plan ahead of the march.
"In the Black Lives Matter protests, well, before it was mandatory in Victoria to wear a mask, we requested that everybody attending wear a mask, and everyone did wear a mask," an organiser of the Melbourne protests told The Feed.
The experience of the Black Lives Matter protests in Melbourne has given the organiser confidence in their plan ahead of the Invasion Day march. Two people who attended the protests back in June later tested positive for COVID-19 a month later.
A DHHS spokesperson told The Feed in July there was no link between there was no community transmission in Melbourne and the Black Lives Matter protests.
"I think it is a real testament to organisers. We're doing everything we can," a Melbourne Invasion Day organiser said.
"This is of extreme importance to us, the safety of our community, and everyone that attends. We want to reassure everybody that we're doing everything we can to stay within the public health guidelines and make sure everybody's safe at the protest."
The Victorian Government's health guidelines advise no more than 100 people to meet outdoors in a public place.
The Facebook page for the Invasion Day protests in Melbourne currently shows over 2,500 people planning on attending.
"We are still in the middle of a pandemic and mass gatherings can create risks for all Victorians, particularly those in vulnerable groups," a DHHS spokesperson told The Feed.
"The Department strongly recommends whenever you cannot keep 1.5 metres distance from others you wear a face mask. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms don't attend any public sites and immediately seek testing."
What do public health experts think of the guidelines?
Epidemiologist, Professor Alexandra Martiniuk from the University of Sydney School of Public Health believes the measures put in place by organisers are in line with recommendations.
"In reality, there will likely be a challenge keeping people 1.5m from one another – however, the 1.5m rule should be followed where possible," Prof Martiniuk told The Feed.
"Positives: mask-wearing, it will be outdoors, COVID numbers currently very low in NSW, albeit this still could be mystery transmission occurring – which increases risk slightly."
Those risks for Professor Nancy Baxter, epidemiologist and the head of the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, are present in most large groups coming together.
"If we want to be as safe as possible, from COVID, we basically [would] have no large groups coming together until we've all been vaccinated," Prof Baxter told The Feed.
"But obviously, we need to balance the risks of larger events like this with the, with the benefits of them, and kind of come up with something that makes sense so that we can do important things, and while still being as safe as possible."
Prof Baxter gives the example of sporting events, she said, there are large numbers of people entering the stadium, going to the bathroom, and times when people may not be keeping their distance despite their best efforts.
"There are probably more people together in one space than would be ideal. So obviously, we are willing to say that the benefits outweigh the risks in some scenarios," she said.
Prof Baxter attended the Melbourne Black Lives Matter protests in June. She said it was striking how protesters followed the health guidelines directed by organisers. She recalled everyone wearing masks, socially distant, and no one shouting.
"I think that's one thing that isn't mentioned there, that probably is very important. We know that COVID-19 can be spread in the air, it can be airborne. And we know that one of the things that increase the chance of that is that people are shouting," she said.
"If they make sure no one is shouting, they have mask-wearing, they have social distancing. And it's done outside, you know, the risks while not zero are low.
"From my perspective, from even a public health perspective, [the benefits] outweigh the risks of the group getting together."
