Changes to the Place Names Act 1994

The Place Names Act 1994 has been amended by the Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2023. The amendments refine place naming considerations to reflect contemporary issues, reduce the regulatory burden in place naming and make the decision-making process more inclusive, flexible, objective, and transparent.

Place naming issues

Giving a place a name or removing or changing a place name requires us to consider a broad range of issues. Previously, the Act listed 10 place naming issues that could be considered. This list has been refined and extended to include:

government initiatives or policies relating to place names
socio-economic effects of giving a name, changing, or discontinuing the name of a place, such as any resultant costs to businesses and members of the community
compliance with other Acts such as the Human Rights Act 2019 and the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991.

Reduced consultation period

Submissions on place name proposals are no longer limited to being in written form. You can make a submission in any format (e.g. video or audio). This makes the consultation process more inclusive and contemporary.

The minimum consultation period has been reduced from 2 months to 1 month, aligning the consultation timeframe with other Australian jurisdictions. However, there is flexibility to set a longer consultation period as needed.

The limited situations in which the publication of a place name proposal may be waived have been broadened to include circumstances where a proposal:

relates to changing or removing an approved name that is distressing to a community or is derogatory, racist or sexist
has already been subject to adequate consultation under a separate process (such as local government consultation) or public consultation is likely to cause substantial distress to the community or part of the community.

These circumstances do not prevent an exempted proposal from being published. As a safeguard, the Minister may request the publication of any proposal before deciding a place name proposal.

Effects of changes to place names

A place name change is not intended to alter any rights and obligations under other laws. A new provision clarifies that any changes to a name, or the discontinuation of a name, has no effect on the rights and obligations of persons affected by the decision. The provision applies both to future name changes and those that have already occurred. It ensures that legal documents that reference an approved name are not rendered invalid through a name change. This will include contracts, penalty infringement notices, leases and other legal documents.

Continued use of an existing name as an approved name

Where a place has been renamed, or a name has been removed, the Minister may allow the historical name to continue to be used for a period of up to 5 years. This provision will minimise impacts on the community, signalling that the name is changing and giving the community and businesses time to make the necessary adjustments to the new name.

Place naming powers and functions

The Bill transfers responsibility for developing and publishing place name proposals from the Minister to the Chief Executive, while the ability to decide on a proposal continues to be restricted to the Minister alone. Clear separation of powers provides greater accountability in place naming.

Delegations

The Bill enables the Chief Executive to delegate their powers (for example the power to prepare a place naming proposal to the Chief Executive of another department, the Chief Executive of a local government, or to an appropriately qualified public service officer).

The Ministerial power to decide a place naming proposal cannot be delegated, except to another Minister (for example place naming in national parks could be delegated to the Minister responsible for the Nature Conservation Act).

Minor amendments

Other amendments include:

clarifying the places to which the Act applies.
clarifying that changes to locality boundaries are part of place naming.
clarifying the Chief Executive’s powers relating to entries in the Gazetteer of place names.
clarifying the offence provision for use of an unapproved name in trade or commerce.
repealing the current fee for accessing the Gazetteer of place names.

Last updated: 02 May 2024
Last reviewed: 21 February 2023