From small ceremonies in remote communities to massive events in state capitals, 13,000 new citizens from 90 different countries have been welcomed on Australia Day.
Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans spoke at the Perth ceremony the largest of 318 held across the nation of Australia's great record of success in settling migrants.
Senator Evans said the 1881 people sworn in under a baking sun at Edith Cowan University in Perth's north had joined ''four million others who have done it before you''.
He said Australia's proud tradition of welcoming people from other nations was one of the nation's great stories.
''It was 60 years ago that we actually passed the amendments to the Citizenship Act which said we were no longer a British colony and were about building Australian citizenship,'' Senator Evans said.
''We are a great success story.
''You go anywhere in the world and they say no one has done it better than Australia at settling and promoting the success of its migrants.''
As politics played its part in this year's celebrations, Australians flocked to hundreds of events around the country, including to the Tall Ships spectacle and ferry race on Sydney Harbour.
In the city's Hyde Park, crowds gathered to dine on everything from traditional Aussie beef burgers and snags to Spanish paella, Thai stir-fry and Turkish gozleme.
Garry Trinh, 33, dressed in an Australian flag T-shirt, said it was the one day of the year when he could wear the flag with pride without feeling like a ''bogan''.
''Sometimes I think the Australian flag is hijacked by a lot of bogans, but today I feel like I can win it back for a day,'' he said.
In Canberra, pop singer Leo Sayer was among 60 people to become Australian citizens at a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
''Yes!'' yelled the English-born musician after becoming a dinky-di Aussie, adding, ''Everything I've done has been leading to this moment ... It's better than a No1.'' Later, Governor-General Quentin Bryce officially opened Citizenship Place, adjacent to Lake Burley Griffin, to mark the 60th anniversary of Australian citizenship.
In Brisbane, thousands of people rallied against indigenous injustices at a ''Survival Day'' event, while reconciliation was the theme of festivities at an Aboriginal community on Elcho Island, off the Northern Territory coast.
In Adelaide, men from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association chanted ''Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi'', while Samoan women wearing grass skirts shook their hips to the beat of a drum.
Melbourne's Australia Day People's March paid tribute to the We Are One, But We Are Many theme, with the Victoria Police Pipe Band, the Laughter Club, Guides Victoria and Chinese dragons all taking part in the parade.
On the water, Tall Ships, including the Young Endeavour, sailed into Port Phillip, Hobsons Bay and St Kilda, while the Yarra River was briefly turned into a sea of yellow as a flotilla of rubber ducks were let loose in the Great Australia Day Duck Race.
Celebrations across the country wound down by the evening with pin-hole cameras in Perth as revellers were treated to a partial solar eclipse, while major fireworks displays took place in Melbourne at Federation Square and in Sydney at Darling Harbour.
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