Place names are often very meaningful to local communities. They also help guide park visitors (including emergency services) to parks and to locations within them.
Policy
1. Naming of parks, features and facilities will be used to recognise and acknowledge natural values and cultural connections to places, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.
2. Parks, except historic sites and Aboriginal areas, will usually be named after a prominent natural (geographic) feature in the local landscape. The local Aboriginal name of the feature is preferred.
3. Parks may be given a name other than a geographic feature if there is a strong historic or cultural connection that should be reflected in the name.
4. Historic sites will be named after the place, event, person or persons they commemorate.
5. Aboriginal areas and Aboriginal places may be given an Aboriginal name nominated by local Aboriginal communities.
6. Parks, features and facilities must not be named after living people (except for facility names currently already recognised by the local community). They may only be named after a deceased person to commemorate a person who contributed significantly to the park or locality in which the facility is situated, such as an explorer, scientist or conservationist, or an Aboriginal person known to have been from the park’s locality. Prior ownership of the land is not in itself grounds for the application of the owner's name to a park or facility.
7. Consistent with the memorials in parks policy, parks, features and facilities must not be named after donors, benefactors, sponsors, politicians, public figures or other people, other than in accordance with paragraphs 4 or 6. They must not be named after organisations or companies. Names must not be used if they could be construed as advertising a commercial or industrial enterprise or product.
8. Names considered offensive or likely to give offence will not be used.
9. Dual naming of parks, geographical features and cultural sites will be used in accordance with the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) Aboriginal Languages Policy as a meaningful way of recognising Aboriginal connection to the lands while retaining an existing name that has community acceptance.
10. Names will be investigated and assigned in consultation with all relevant persons and groups. Refer to research and consultation section below.
11. No Aboriginal name, other than a name registered with the Geographical Names Board (GNB), will be adopted without the approval of the appropriate Aboriginal people, usually traditional owners or Elder groups.
12. Wilderness areas will be named in a way consistent with the overall intent of this policy and with particular reference to paragraphs 1 to 11 of this policy.