Fuck Yeah, Triple J Is Changing The Date Of The Hottest 100

Pop the motherfucking champagne: triple j has announced it is changing the date of the Hottest 100!

The station usually holds its annual music poll on January 26, the divisive public holiday currently known as Australia Day. But from 2018 onwards, they’ll move the Hottest 100 countdown to the fourth weekend of January. Station Manager Ollie Wards broke the news on air this afternoon with Gen and Lewis.

It’s a small shift that will make a big difference.

The move comes after increasing scrutiny over how and when we celebrate Australia Day, a day that causes considerable pain for Indigenous Australians and one that many associate with violence and dispossession.

Last year a widespread campaign calling for triple j to change the date of the countdown picked up momentum, with Indigenous artists joining the chorus of voices asking the station to act.

While it was business as usual for the Hottest 100 in 2017, triple j this year launched a survey to find out how strong support for a date change is among its listeners — a cause ex-presenters like Matt Okine got behind. Reports that the station was “in serious talks” about changing the date circulated last year.

Now if we could just change the date of Australia Day itself, that’d be tops. Malcolm Turnbull, you up?