Canberrans this year abandoned the television coverage of the awards inside Parliament House.

Fewer people also turned up to this year's Australia Day fireworks, despite the added bonus of a replacement concert staged by the ACT government.

Since 2004, the Australia Day Live concert was held on the lawns of Parliament House on Australia Day Eve to coincide with the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards, held outside in front of a huge audience of anyone who wanted to attend the event.

But this year, the National Australia Day Council cancelled the Australia Day eve concert and took the awards inside the Great Hall of Parliament House, excluding the general public and citing concerns about the potential for storms.

On the actual day of the awards - Wednesday - zero rain was recorded in the national capital.

Meanwhile the ACT government announced with 10 days notice it would hold its own concert on Australia Day on Thursday to coincide with its annual firework display.

Television ratings show the ABC's coverage of the Australian of the Year awards on Wednesday lost half its Canberra audience compared to last year.

Last year, 40,000 Canberrans tuned into the Australian of the Year awards, making it the No.1 program for the night in the national capital.

This year, the Canberra TV audience for the awards fell to just under 21,000, making it the sixth most-popular show for the evening, far behind the Big Bash cricket and Australian Open tennis.

A spokeswoman for the National Australia Day Council said it was "very proud" of its awards event at Parliament House on Wednesday.

"We've received very positive feedback from people at the event and who were watching on TV and other channels," she said.

"We consider the audience figures and interaction across a range of channels in our assessment.

"The 2017 Australian of the Year Awards was broadcast live on ABC TV and ABC Local Radio and simulcast on ABC iview, ABC News 24, ABC TV Facebook and YouTube (@ABCTV). The total combined audience numbers are yet to be received."

The ACT government's replacement concert and fireworks display on the evening of Australia Day also drew a smaller crowd than last year's firework display alone.

An ACT government spokeswoman said about 50,000 people flocked to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin to enjoy its first 'Australia Day in the Capital' concert followed by its annual firework display.

That figure was roughly on par with its prediction, but fewer than the 70,000 who turned up for last year's fireworks.

The ACT government spokeswoman said she was pleased with the number of people who attended this year's event, 30,000 of whom were at Regatta Point where the concert was held and a further 20,000 were scattered across the lake's shores.

"This is especially considering that last year's Parliament House concert only attracted 15,000," she said,

"In previous years the Australia Day Eve concert typically attracted an audience of 20,000 to 25,000."

But Canberra Liberals tourism spokesman Andrew Wall said the ACT government was "inflating numbers and making them look good" by comparing them to crowd numbers at the fireworks on previous years, saying that only 30,000 were there for the concert.

He said Canberrans "would have been much better off" if Chief Minister Andrew Barr put more effort and time into planning the concert.

But the night was a success for Canberra band Hands Like Houses, which played before headliners British India.

Base player Joel Tyrrell admitted he could see gaps of green in between families standing or sitting in front of the stage at Regatta Point.

"But when we started playing it was quite hot, so even by the middle of our set there were more people getting out of the shade and coming down the front, and when the sun went down for British India a lot of people were rockin'," he said.

"We could definitely see people all around the lake. I thought it was a huge success and a lot of fun."