While many mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, calls for an Australian republic have resurfaced.
Some say it's now time for Australia to move on from the monarchy.
The republic movement was previously championed by former prime ministers Paul Keating and later Malcolm Turnbull, who led the 1999 Yes campaign.
The campaign was unsuccessful, with the Australian population voting to keep the Queen as their head of state.
The Australian Republic Movement's current leadership believes the Queen's death changes things.
Now's the time, republicans say
Republicans believe with the right conditions - including a more acceptable model and backing from The Lodge - Australia could hold another referendum and be a republic within two years, according to AAP.
"A phenomenal number of people have said to me over the years, 'I'm absolutely with you, but not until the Queen passes away'. And I expect now there will be a surge of interest, of membership, of donations," chair Peter FitzSimons said.
"With the greatest respect to Charles III - and I mean that; I have nothing against him personally - he does not enjoy the same deep wellspring of affection and loyalty that Her Majesty did."
Another movement, Real Republic Australia, will be releasing a discussion paper in the "coming months" proposing the details of a referendum.
Greens leader Adam Bandt used a condolence message to reiterate his calls for a republic.
“Rest In Peace Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her," he tweeted.
“Now Australia must move forward. We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic.”
The Queen 'backed Australia's right to decide'
Lindsay Marshall from the Real Republic Australia said Friday was a "sad day for the world", with the Queen's passing.
But he said the royal family had always left the choice up to Australia to decide on a republic.
"The senior Royals, without fail, have always taken the position that the republic debate in Australia or in any other Commonwealth country, is a matter for the people of those nations," he said.
"It's not about the royal family. They understand that."
But with shaky relations between Australia and its neighbouring Asian countries over the last two decades, experts say becoming a republic could help Australia's standing in the region.
Australia 'can learn from Indian independence'
Dr Pradeep Taneja from the Australia India Institute told SBS News that while becoming a republic might not change Australia's trade relations, it would be important symbolically.
"I don't think it [Australian republic] is going to significantly change Australia's trade with Asia, whether it's with China, India or any of the Southeast Asian countries," he said.
"But I think it's important in terms of symbolism and particularly how a country is perceived by other countries."
Mr Taneja says it's important to look at Australia's identity when discussing the possibility of a republic.
"I think Australia becoming a republic would clearly change that perception," he said.
Others say Australia can learn from India's 75 years of independence from Britain.
Professor Robin Batterham, Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering said reaking away from the Commonwealth wouldn't necessarily mean losing the positive impacts British rule has had on Australian society.
"India have maintained many of the things that came from being under British rule (democracy, the rule of law, stable institutions) but have been emboldened by the need to act independently," he said.
"We can do likewise."
Some experts argue Australia should better acknowledge it's an Asian country.
"Perhaps it’s time Australia – learning from the Indian example - declared itself as a republic, became much more inclusive in terms of empowering the Indigenous people, and recognised that it is today an Asian country, in a real sense, rather than being part of the Anglosphere," wrote Amitabh Mattoo, an Honorary Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne, in a piece in The Conversation in August.
Referendum must be inclusive
Australia becoming a republic could help improve its relations with nations that declared independence long ago, some experts believe.
But Dr Gerald Roche, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Politics, Media, and Philosophy at La Trobe University, said that to improve relations with First Nations, treaties need to be considered.
"Becoming a republic might help improve our image to neighbours like Malaysia and India who escaped British control long ago, but it will do little to change relations with First Nations people unless a republic is based on treaties," he said.
Not everyone will be mourning the Queen
Dr Roche says some Australians won't be celebrating the Queen's legacy.
"There has been widespread expectation of universal mourning for the passing of Elizabeth Mary, but many—Indigenous people and others—are refusing this," he said.
"Instead, they are noting the role that she actively played in suppressing decolonisation in places like Kenya, and the fact that she lived a life of luxury based on wealth looted from people in Britain's colonies.
"Nobody should be expected to mourn someone who profited from the suffering of their ancestors," he said.
Professor Sandy O'Sullivan, a Wiradjuri transgender/non-binary person, says the Queen was an "architect" of colonialism.
"For those saying we should be magnanimous about the passing of the queen, a reminder that the queen inserted herself into the lives of Indigenous people here multiple times," Proffesor O'Sullivan wrote on Twitter.
"She wasn't a bystander to the effects of colonisation and colonialism, she was an architect of it."
Are other countries in the Commonwealth seeking independence?
Over the 54 states in the Commonwealth, only 15 have the Monarch as their head of state and that number is likely to decline over the coming years.
Last year, Barbados removed the Queen as its head of state, becoming the world's latest republic.
Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago, Dominica, and Fiji all also became republics during the 1970s -1980s.
Jamaica is the latest Commonwealth nation to announce plans to become a republic, hoping to do so by 2025.
Opposition leader in the Jamaican parliament Mikael Phillips said the Queen's death could ramp up the county's transition to a republic.
“I am hoping as the Prime Minister had said in one of his expressions, that he would move faster when there is a new monarch in place,” Mr Phillips said.
