Knowledge article Australian place names

Place names are more than labels on a map. They identify natural and built geographic features, help people navigate, and connect information to a location.

They also tell stories about place — reflecting culture, language, history and scientific understanding — and preserve knowledge about how people have experienced and described the Australian landscape over time.

Keeping these names updated, accurate and consistent across Australia is a shared responsibility.

Who manages Australia’s place names?

There is no official national naming authority in Australia. Instead, place names are managed by the government authority responsible for each jurisdiction, including State and Territory governments, the Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Hydrographic Office.

Through the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) Place Names Working Group, Geoscience Australia collaborates with these authorities to establish modern, inclusive and consistent place naming principles that reflect the evolving needs and values of Australia’s diverse communities.

These principles — including considerations for accessibility, usability and inclusivity — align with international best practice and resolutions set out by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN).

A national view of Australia’s place names

Geoscience Australia plays a central role in the national coordination of place name information by maintaining a national place names dataset — the Composite Gazetteer of Australia.

The Composite Gazetteer brings place name data from the different jurisdictions together into a national repository using a common structure. This creates a consistent national view that can be searched, combined with other geographic information, and used in mapping applications.

Before information is added to the national database, it is checked against agreed data requirements. Validation checks that names are present, duplicate features are identified, locations and coordinates are logical, and features fall within the appropriate jurisdiction.

This work is an example of Australia’s national foundational geospatial data in action: information maintained by different authorities is brought together in a consistent national framework, giving it broader applicability and greater value to the nation.

Explore Australian place names

The Composite Gazetteer is made available for easy access through the Geoscience Australia Place Names app.

Users can search and filter place names by authority, group, category and feature. The dataset includes information such as the name, feature type, latitude, longitude and source authority.

This allows a place name to be connected to other national datasets and used consistently across maps, geographic information systems and other location-based applications.

Explore Australia's official place names on a map