Australia Day awards and citizenship ceremonies will move online in an attempt to keep the community safe as cases of COVID-19 rise.
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Port Macquarie-Hastings Council CEO Dr Clare Allen and mayor Cr Peta Pinson said the decision to cancel the in-person ceremony at Wauchope RSL Club was not made lightly.
"With the COVID-19 situation in our local community and escalating infections statewide, we feel this is the safest decision for all," Dr Allen said.
"We made this decision reluctantly as we were looking forward to celebrating in-person and recognising our amazing award nominees and those taking up Australian citizenship."
The Australia Day awards and citizenship ceremonies will be separate online events. Details on these events will be confirmed shortly.
The council received 19 nominations in the 2022 Australia Day awards with 16 citizens and three community groups nominated across five categories.
Some 28 people are set to become Australian citizens on Australia Day.
Australia Day ambassador Donna Ciccia has reluctantly cancelled her trip to the region due to the COVID-19 situation.
"Cancelling the in-person celebration is a hard call to make and it was made with a heavy heart," Cr Pinson said.
"Our priority is to protect the community as much as we can, and while COVID-19 safety plans were in place, we feel the current situation is a concern.
"We don't want to encourage people to congregate at our event when the Omicron variant is running rife in our community.
"We are hoping to be able to honour our award nominees and winners and welcome our new citizens as best as we can and fingers crossed we will be back on track in 2023."
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