Third Melbourne council dumps all references to Australia Day

Another Melbourne council will dump all references to Australia Day for January 26 but will continue to hold citizenship ceremonies on the date.

Moreland City Council in the city's inner-north voted in favour of dropping all references to Australia Day and to join the push to change the date on Wednesday night.

However, the council stopped short of cancelling citizenship ceremonies to avoid losing its right to host them altogether.

Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton said hosting ceremonies and events on January 26 was "grossly insensitive" to indigenous people.

"It would be like celebrating the Nazi holocaust," Ms Bolton said in the meeting on Wednesday.

Another councillor, John Kavanagh, did not support the move and said it was a decision for the federal government to make.

"This decision should be held in federal parliament ... it shows (their) complete lack of courage," he said.

Moreland in 2015 moved its annual citizen awards ceremony to October.

The federal government last month stripped Yarra and Darebin councils of their right to host citizenship ceremonies after successful votes to shift them to another day.