It is understood senior management at the ABC has been discussing the matter in recent weeks both internally and with Indigenous artists, especially over the Big Sound conference in Brisbane, with an announcement to be made today, Fairfax Media has learned.

It comes after two non-indigenous social activists last month launched a change.org petition taking aim at Triple J's Hottest 100 date.

Hobart friends Luke Cripps, 23, and Grace Wells, 24, have watched numbers swell swiftly after Indigenous rappers Briggs and Trials, who form A.B. Original, dropped the track, January 26, taking aim at Australia Day. Adding to momentum the City of Fremantle in Western Australia also announced it was cancelling its Australia Day fireworks out of respect.

The petition, which has more than 2000 signatures, says: "We recognise that it isn't within the power of Triple J to change this date; however, it is capable of using their broadcast to make a statement of solidarity with the experience of those whose countries were colonised.

"The ABC has a long history of excellent broadcasting with a focus on diversity, and Triple J is no exception. By changing the date of the Hottest 100 Countdown, Triple J can send a message to First Nations' Peoples that they, and their experiences, are valued and respected by other Australians."

Cripps said the petition was inspired by this year's Invasion Day rallies, and he and Wells wanted to come up with a way of generating conversation about the significance of January 26 among their peers.

"We don't want to tear Triple J down. They have had a long history of working with and promoting indigenous voices," he said. "We just thought how can we amplify this discussion that is already going on in first nation communities but how can we get other Australians, particularly younger Australians, talking about it.

"The idea from my perspective is that the benefit of a petition is that you end up with a group of people that you can go to an organisation and say 'this is the support that's already here for this, what do you think about it and can we have a conversation about listening to these voices?'.

"And that's part of the reason why we started the petition this early as well, because I think it is something Australia needs to talk through.

"There are so many people who just don't understand the significance of January 26 on first nations people, they don't understand even why January 26 is the day that Australia Day is held on."

Briggs and Trials said their track, which they performed at Big Sound, is meant to confront the underlying issue of racism in Australia and how that comes out on Australia Day, with Briggs saying "it feels like no one has come out and outright said f--- Australia Day, and then we did".

Their song, which features Dan Sultan and premiered on Triple J, has the lyrics "How you wanna raise a flag with a rifle to make us want to celebrate anything but survival". They support the petition.

"Triple J are the soundtrack of the youth, they are the youth radio station and it's definitely a conversation worth having. It would be a message," says Briggs.

"It would definitely take a stance and ... honestly that's something I've thought of over the last couple of years. Because everything encompassing January 26 for me is hard for to celebrate. We can't even celebrate the Hottest 100 on that day, either, because if we get caught celebrating anything on that day we'd be disowned.

"For real, that day I close the curtains and bunker down."

Skinnyfish Music owner Mark Gross, who represents Indigenous musicians from Northern Territory like Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Saltwater Band, Lonely Boys and B2M but who is non-indigenous himself, applauds the petition and backs the shift of Australia Day away from January 26.

"I think it is something we should all re-examine. In terms of Triple J, it'd be a great statement that they support Indigenous Australians' desires to have an alternative day and so by standing up by saying 'well, we'll do that by having the Hottest 100 countdown on a different day' would be fantastic.

"Because they do, do a lot and they are supporters of local artists and indigenous artists, if they took such a step it would have significant meaning."

The petition has also been bolstered by another activist, Brendan Busch, 22, who made a Facebook #changethedate offer earlier this month of a $400 Falls Festival ticket to anyone who could get Triple J to commit to shifting the Hottest 100 date.

"Triple J or any organisational council anywhere will say they respect and acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, or something to that effect, and just how insincere and offensive that actually is, if they all take part in celebrating a day which leads to the hurt and oppression of the people they claim to be showing solidarity with," he said.

Cripps thought Mr Busch's offer was exciting. "The reason I think it's really exciting is that it is provoking that discussion among young people. It is getting their attention in a way that gets them to think about it."

Triple J has partnered with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) in Redfern, Sydney, with $100,000 in donations from this year's Hottest 100 going to support Aboriginal youth. Triple J has been contacted for comment.

This year's Triple J Hottest 100 top spot went to the Rubens for their track Hoops, with almost 300,000 people in 172 countries casting more than 2 million votes.

Artists who had previously made the list joined the outcry over the date, including the Presets who said they would not celebrate a day they found "frankly sickening".