Place names 1788-1966
Since 1788, most places in NSW have been renamed in English. While some attempts have been made to include Aboriginal place names, this has only recently been incorporated into government regulations and policy.
Shortly after first contact, Governors started to rename places in NSW in English. Governor Macquarie, for example, renamed places according to English towns he was reminded of, such as Windsor, Wilberforce, Pitt-Town and Richmond ().
British surveyors continued to rename places in English into the 1800s.
Some attempts were made in the 19th century to keep Aboriginal place names. Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, Surveyor-General of NSW in the 1830s, directed surveyors to use Aboriginal names where possible. Mitchell preferred the ‘proper native name’ ().
The 1864 Regulations for the Guidance of Licensed Surveyors () provided general directions for surveyors by the Survey Department of NSW. These Regulations said that where ‘euphonious’ (nice sounding) Aboriginal names were known, they should be suggested by the Surveyors.
Accordingly, some Aboriginal placenames have remained, such as Bondi, Coogee, Parramatta, Woolloomooloo, Dubbo, Mudgee and Wagga Wagga.
The first law about place names in NSW was the Geographical Names Act 1966 (NSW) ().
This law established the Geographical Names Board (GNB). One of the responsibilities of the GNB was to ‘compile and maintain a vocabulary of aboriginal words used or suitable for use … and to record their meaning and tribal origin’.
In 1992, the Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia, a committee of the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying & Mapping, created policy guidelines for recording and using Aboriginal placenames (). The guidelines included using Aboriginal names for places or sites without a recognised name.
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No. 2) 1993 (NSW) () amended the Geographical Names Act so that one member of the GNB was to be nominated by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.
Since 2001 a policy of ‘Dual naming’ has been in place, which has named NSW sites and geographical features in English and Aboriginal languages (). Individuals and community groups can submit applications for dual naming to the GNB but the policy only applies to sites already named. For example, Port Hunter has the dual name ‘Yohaaba.’ Considering that English place names are still used today, the dual naming policy is a way for communities to reclaim and preserve words that may have otherwise been lost ().
The discussion and analysis documents in this subject critique the GNB and discuss the difficulties with reinstating accurate Aboriginal place names. Case studies explore the significance of place names to Aboriginal people in NSW.