anps
Australian National Placenames Survey (ANPS)
Australian Placenames

The aim of the "Australian National Placenames Survey" ("ANPS") is to prepare a national register of geographical names. The National Register will be a supplement to the National Gazetteer, and will be a database constructed on recognised principles for the research and documentation of history, geography, linguistics, cultural knowledge, surveying and mapping. It will record all known Australian names, documenting their pronunciation, generic class, status (gazetted, obsolete, non-gazetted, sensitive, disputed etc.), origin, meaning, history, cultural significance (of both name and site), and map reference and location. The database will enable the production of a series of place name dictionaries, both local and national, over the next few decades.

Newsletter
Placenames Australia is the newsletter of the "Australian National Placenames Survey". It began its life in March 1996 as the Bulletin of the then National Placenames Project, with Bill Noble as its editor. As the Project grew into the Australian National Placenames Survey more design features were added to the newsletter and the number of subscribers and contributors continues to grow steadily. It is now a free, quarterly publication and contains articles and short pieces about the cultural aspects of placenames and placename research in Australia. Feel free to browse through and print any of the available back issues below, using Adobe Acrobat.

Anyone interested can join the mailing list by completing the subscription form. This form can also be used to unsubscribe and to notify us if you have changed your postal address.

"Placenames Australia" is the newsletter of the "Australian National Placenames Survey". It began its life in March 1996 as the Bulletin of the then National Placenames Project, with Bill Noble as its editor. As the Project grew into the Australian National Placenames Survey more design features were added to the newsletter and the number of subscribers and contributors continues to grow steadily. It is now a free, quarterly publication and contains articles and short pieces about the cultural aspects of placenames and placename research in Australia. Feel free to browse through and print any of the available back issues below, using Adobe Acrobat.
Anyone interested can join the mailing list by completing the subscription form. This form can also be used to unsubscribe and to notify us if you have changed your postal address.

The aim of the Australian National Placenames Survey (ANPS) is to prepare a national register of geographical names. The National Register will be a supplement to the National Gazetteer, and will be a database constructed on recognised principles for the research and documentation of history, geography, linguistics, cultural knowledge, surveying and mapping. It will record all known Australian names, documenting their pronunciation, generic class, status (gazetted, obsolete, non-gazetted, sensitive, disputed etc.), origin, meaning, history, cultural significance (of both name and site), and map reference and location. The database will enable the production of a series of place name dictionaries, both local and national, over the next few decades.

The project will have important beneficial effects not only on the cultural aspect of geographical names but also on the technical aspects of government function (such as efficiency in communications, transport and defence). The project involves support from government agencies, academic institutions and individuals. A national structure is being put into place to implement the project, ensuring effective representation of interested parties at national, state and local levels.

• Australia and NZ placenames websites
• Australian Indigenous languages websites
• International websites
• National Library of Australia - gazetteers of Australia and the world
• Historical Association websites
• Research Friends downloads

• Australian Capital Territory Land Information Centre http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/actlic/places
• Geographical Names Board of New South Wales http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name/search
• Lands Planning Environment Northern Territory Government http://www.lpe.nt.gov.au/place/
• Department of Natural Resources Queensland http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/property/placenames/
• Place Names Online, South Australian State Gazetteer http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/
• Victorian Place Names http://www.vicnames.vic.gov.au/dmb1/plsql/gnr.init
• WA Placenames, Department of Land Information http://www.dli.wa.gov.au/corporate.nsf/web/WA+Place+Names
• Land Information New Zealand http://www.linz.govt.nz/rcs/linz/pub/web/root/core/placenames/index.jsp
• The National Gazetteer, Geoscience Australia, National Mapping Division (formerly AUSLIG) http://www.ga.gov.au/map/names/
• Intergovernmental Committee for Surveying and Mapping http://www.icsm.gov.au/
• Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia http://www.icsm.gov.au/icsm/cgna/
• Australian Antarctic Division http://www.antdiv.gov.au/
• Department of Defence - Australian Hydrographic Service http://www.hydro.gov.au/
• Department of Defence - Defence Topographic Agency http://www.defence.gov.au/digo

• Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/
• Aboriginal Languages of Australia http://www.dnathan.com/VL/austLang.htm
• Aboriginal place names around Sydney Harbour http://www.livingharbour.net/aboriginal/place_names.htm
• FATSIL Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation of Languages http://www.fatsil.org/

• Northern Ireland Place-name Project http://www.qub.ac.uk/lla/cel/placenameproject.htm
• Scottish Place-name Society http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institutes/sassi/spns/spnstop.htm
• The Toponomy Interest Group of the American Name Society http://www.wtsn.binghamton.edu/plansus/
• United States Geological Survey Mapping Information http://www.usgs.gov/

• National Library of Australia - Gazetteers http://www.nla.gov.au/map/gazetteers.html

• The Australian Council of Professional Historians Associations Inc http://www.historians.org.au/

• Excel worksheets for data entry DataForm.xls
• Instruction brief (in MS Word) for data entry Instruct.doc

Ayers Rock
Ayers (W3)

CGNA (W3)

We all use place names everyday to describe our surroundings, where we’re going or where we’ve been.

Rivers, mountains, plains, towns, suburbs, reefs, shoals and undersea features all have names. Whether they are of national or international importance or known only to a handful of people, names connect places to their local communities and often reflect our heritage and culture.

New Zealand and each Australian state and territory - including our Antarctic areas of interest - have a place name registrar, naming board or committee for approving or registering names. However it is the "Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia" ("CGNA") that coordinates place-naming activities across Australia and New Zealand.

CGNA Brochure
CGNA has produced an informative brochure on place naming in Australia and New Zealand. Significantly, it outlines the achievements of CGNA in ensuring the integrity of place names.

ga
Geoscience Australia
Place Name Search

gov
Geoscience Australia Place Name Search

• Petroleum & Marine
• Minerals
• Urban Geoscience
• National Mapping
• Corporate Documentation
• Map Reading Guide: How to Read Topographic Maps
• AusGeo News
• More information about Publications involving Geoscience Australia authors

gov
ICSM - Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

ICSM (W3)

ICSM's role is to provide leadership, coordination and standards for surveying, mapping/charting and national framework datasets.

The Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) was established by the Prime Minister, State Premiers, and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory in 1988. Since that time the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand have joined ICSM. The Australian Defence forces are also represented on ICSM.

Membership is comprised of senior representatives of surveying and mapping agencies.

Prior to 1988 a similar body, the "National Mapping Council" ("NMC"), had coordinated cooperative Commonwealth, State and Northern Territory mapping programs since 1945. Although the NMC had been an effective forum, the changing operational environment of the late 1980s led to the cessation of the NMC and the formation of ICSM to cover both surveying and mapping issues, as they related to Government activities, to ensure continued cooperation in these activities on a national basis.
...

• 1. PREFACE
• 2. INTRODUCTION
• 3. REFERENCES
• 4. TECHNICAL TERMS
• 5. GLOSSARY OF DESIGNATORS
• 6. DESIGNATOR CODES

Moent, Dubbelde Ree (W3)

Geographic and Linguistic Reflections on "Moent" and "Dubbelde Ree": Two of Australia’s First Recorded Placenames
JAN TENT
Department of Linguistics, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia. Email: jan.tent@mq.edu.au
Received 30 August 2005; Revised 3 May 2006; Accepted 3 August 2006
Abstract
The year 2006 marks the quatercentenary of the first known European charting of any part of the Australian coastline, when the Dutch mariner Willem Janszoon explored 300 kms of the north-west coast of Cape York Peninsula. He bestowed seven placenames, two of which, "Moent" and "Dubbelde Ree" have ambiguous meanings or referents. This paper attempts to resolve the enigmas behind these names by considering geographic, linguistic and historical evidence.

"Moent" is particularly challenging, with several possible linguistic sources, some more plausible than others. The most compelling evidence points to it either referring to the western entrance to Endeavour Strait, or a Dutch rendition of an Indigenous Australian word.

"Dubbelde Ree" is less problematic. The issue surrounding this name is whether its second element is meant to be "Ree", an abbreviation of "Reede" ("Roadstead"), or "Rev", an abbreviation of "Revier" ("River"). The search for the meaning of these placenames has provided credible evidence demonstrating that Janszoon explored the coastline in greater detail than has hitherto been thought, and that, in all likelihood, made contact with the local inhabitants.
...

onomastik.com
Die deutschen Ortsnamen in Australien

Die deutschen Ortsnamen in Australien mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Queenslands
Thomas Liebecke

Als vor gut zweihundert Jahren die Europäer begannen, Australien zu besiedeln, kamen auch Tausende Deutsche auf den Kontinent.
Sie beeinflußten die Entwicklung der jungen Kolonien nachhaltig - davon zeugen nicht zuletzt auch Ortsnamen wie Bismark, Dresden, Heidelberg oder Marburg.
Der folgende Text gibt Aufschluss darüber, wie die Deutschen und ihre Namen nach Australien kamen.
Wem der ganze Text zu lang ist, der kann sich zum Einstieg die Liste deutscher Ortsnamen in Südaustralien oder Queensland anschauen.
Der Text basiert auf einer Magisterarbeit im Studiengang Namenkunde, Universität Leipzig, 2003, wurde leicht editiert und um etwa 25 Prozent gekürzt.
...

• 0 Einleitung
• 1 Die australische Namenwelt
• 1.1 Ureinwohner, ihre Sprachen und Namen
• 1.2 Europäische Namen
• 1.2.1 Die Seefahrer
• 1.2.2 Die Entdecker
• 1.2.3 Squatter,Siedler und Surveyor
• 1.3 Neuzeitliche Namenvergabe
• 2 Deutsche Einwanderung und Ortsnamen
• 2.1 New South Wales und Victoria
• 2.2 Südaustralien
• 2.2.1 Umbenannte Orte Südaustraliens
• 2.4 Westaustralien und Northern Territory
• 3 Queensland
• 3.1 Die Deutschen
• 3.2 Die deutschen Namen
• 3.2.1 Vorgehen
• 3.2.2 Localities,Orte, Städte
• 3.2.3 Aufbau der Einträge
• 3.2.4 Die Orte (1) (2) (3) (4)
• 4 Diskussion
• 4.1 Ortsnamen nach ihrer Motivation
• 4.1.1 Namenübertragung
• 4.1.2 Ortsnamen aus Personennamen
• 4.1.3 Namenschöpfung
• 4.2 Mischnamen
• 4.3 Namenwandel und Assimilation
• 4.4 Namenwechsel
• 5 Schlussbetrachtungen
• 6 Verwendete und gesichtete Literatur

Hercus, Luise
The Land Is a Map
Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia

...
The entire Australian continent was once covered with networks of Indigenous placenames. These names often evoke important information about features of the environment and their place in Indigenous systems of knowledge. On the other hand, placenames assigned by European settlers and officials are largely arbitrary, except for occassional descriptive labels such as "river", "lake", "mountain". They typically commemorate people, or unrelated places in the Northern Hemisphere.

In areas where Indigenous societies remain relatively intact, thousands of Indigenous placenames are used but have no official recognition. Little is known about any variation in principles of placename bestowal found in different Indigenous groups. While many Indigenous placenames have been taken into the official placename system, they are often given to different features from those which they originally applied to. In the process, they have been cut off from any understanding of their original meanings. Attempts are now being made to ensure that additions of Indigenous placenames to the system of official placenames more accurately reflect the traditions they come from.

This book ranges across all these issues. The contributors bring a wide range of different experiences, both academic and practical, to their contributions. The book promises to be a standard reference work on Indigenous placenames in Australia for many years to come.

The Land is a Map was launched in Canberra on 5 December 2002 at the Australian Placenames Colloquium. The publisher's description and purchasing details for the book may be found at the relevant page on the Pandanus Books website.
...

PANDANUS BOOKS
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
...