In Sydney, the country's largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia's worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 and wounding 40

A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centred on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons

The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia's Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbour

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year's Eve festivities as a victory