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Proposed Guideline Amendments


The principles, guidelines and procedures for geographic names reflect the underlying philosophy used to standardise the approval process for new names. The Geographic Names Committee of Western Australia is guided by these principles when making decisions on names. Proposed changes to the principles, guidelines and procedures for geographic names will be advertised on this site to provide opportunities for comment and feedback.

PROPOSED DUAL NAMING GUIDELINES

1.Principles of Dual Naming

1.1 Dual naming is not considered preferable to one name, and in each case the proposal should be investigated to establish if the indigenous name would have enough community support to replace the European name.
1.2 Temporary dual naming is a useful process to assist in changing from a European name to an indigenous name.
1.3 Dual naming is not to be considered for addressable localities, road names or physical structures associated with roads, such as bridges.
1.4 Dual naming should apply to physical features, such as mountains, lakes, rivers etc.
1.5 Dual naming is to give recognition to existing traditional indigenous names, where evidence exists, preferably historic in written form or oral tradition, that a feature has two names.
1.6 Dual naming proposals should have the support of the local Aboriginal community and the local government.
1.7 Depiction of Dual Names
1. Both the Indigenous part and the introduced part of the dual names should be the same font size, font type and colour. If a visual separator is required, it should be a solidus “/”.
2. Whichever of the two names is most likely to be used by the local community and acceptable to the broader community is to be used first in a sequence.
3. In each instance of dual naming the Committee shall identify the naming sequence most likely to reach the widest acceptance in the local community. This sequence can be reviewed every 5 years.
4. Both parts of the dual name should be shown on official maps such as topographical maps.
5. Signposting of dual names is to be applied as agreed or appropriate.

2. Procedure

The procedures to be followed will be developed following acceptance of the above principles by the Committee and the Minister. Changes or additions by the Committee and Minister will influence the framing of the procedures.

Comments on the propose Dual Naming Guidelines may be submitted to the Secretary, Geographic Names Committee.
Western Australian Land Information Authority