Against the backdrop of mounting calls to change the date of Australia Day, thousands marched through the streets of inner Sydney for the annual Invasion Day rally.
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The crowd stretched as far as the eye could see as it snaked from Redfern, down Broadway and into Victoria Park in Camperdown.
Chants of "always was, always will be Aboriginal land" echoed down the length of the march, which stretched for over 500 metres, as traffic sat stationary at Broadway, waiting for it to pass.
The march began at The Block, in Redfern, the spiritual heartland of Sydney's Indigenous community, where Aboriginal speakers addressed the crowd on the ongoing issues faced by Indigenous people, including high incarceration rates, deaths in custody, and high rates of children in state care.
"We want this to be a day to heal amongst ourselves," Ken Canning, chairman of the Indigenous Social Justice Association, said.
Founding member of Grandmothers Against Removals, Sue-Ellen Tighe told the crowd Invasion Day was about a "fight for the right to our land, our culture, our language, our people, our laws".
"In 2018 we should not be the most marginalised race in this nation. We are the first peoples."
Read more: There is nothing sacred about Australia Day
The rally was splashed with the red, yellow and black of the Aboriginal flag, as Indigenous people from across NSW, as well as interstate, led the procession out of Redfern and through the streets of Chippendale.
Signs reading "change the date" and "no pride in genocide" were embedded throughout the crowd.
It gathered force as it headed towards the Yabun Festival in Victoria Park, which was described by organisers as "the largest one day gathering and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in Australia."
The crowd was reinforced by thousands of non-Indigenous people, many of whom, if not most, were aged under 30, reflecting a growing discomfit among a younger demographic of Australians about the Australia Day celebrations.
The Invasion Day rally is held each year on Australia Day, as a protest against the plight of Indigenous Australians since colonisation by the British.
The rally this year marked 230 years since 11 ships of the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove and Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union flag in 1788.
Similar Invasion Day commemorations were held across Australia, including a 5000-strong protest in Melbourne's CBD.
The rallies in Sydney and Melbourne have grown in prominence in recent years, and have gathered increasing support from outside the Indigenous community from those who believe Australia Day should not be held on January 26.
