Place Names Act 1994

This Act may be cited as the Place Names Act 1994.

This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

In this Act—approved name of a place means a name appearing in the Gazetteer as the name of the place.excluded place see section 4(2).executive officer...existing name, of a place, see section 8(3).Gazetteer means the Gazetteer of Place Names.place see section 4.place naming issues see section 6.publish includes show in public and distribute to the public.Queensland Government website see the Financial Accountability Act 2009, section 88F(7).regional newspaper see the Financial Accountability Act 2009, section 88H(2).relevant website, for publishing a notice relating to a place, means—

the department’s website; or

a Queensland government website; or

another website the Minister considers appropriate, having regard to the nature of the information contained in the notice.

stated place naming issue means a place naming issue mentioned in section 6(2).trade or commerce...

A place is an area or geographical feature (whether natural or artificial) other than an excluded place.

An excluded place is—

a road within the meaning of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995; or

a canal associated with a residential or commercial development; or

a building or similar structure; or

a dam wall or similar structure; or

a division or ward of a local government area; or

a place given a name under another law of the State or the Commonwealth; orExamples for paragraph (f)—a port, an electoral district, a local government area

another place prescribed by regulation.

This Act binds all persons, including the State, and, so far as the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Commonwealth and the other States.

Place naming issues are issues relevant to the naming of places.

Without limiting subsection (1), place naming issues for the naming of a place include—

Aboriginal tradition and Island custom; and

the appropriateness of a place having more than 1 name; and

government initiatives or policies relating to place names; and

the cultural and historical significance of places and names; and

community views; andExamples—

• the community considers an approved place name should be changed because it is offensive or harmful to the community

• the community supports an approved place name that honours an event or person

the appropriateness of a name for a place, having regard to—

the location, population, size and topography of the place; andExample—the place is in a remote or sparsely populated area

the use of a name for a place; andExample—the length of time or extent of use of a name for the place

the avoidance of confusion about the names or location of places; and

guidelines and conventions set by intergovernmental or international committees having functions about the naming of places; and

socio-economic effects of giving a name to a place or changing or discontinuing an approved name of a place; andExample—the likely costs to businesses and members of the community resulting from a change to an approved name of a place

requirements to comply with other Acts, including, for example, the Human Rights Act 2019 and the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991.

The Minister may—

give a name to a place; or

change an approved name of a place; or

discontinue an approved name of a place.

Subsection (1) is subject to sections 8, 9, 10A and 11.

To remove any doubt, it is declared that for subsection (1)(b), a change to the boundary of an area to which an approved name relates resulting in a change to the approved name for any part of the area is a change to an approved name of a place.

The chief executive may develop a proposal about the name of a place.

In developing the proposal, the chief executive—

must have regard to the stated place naming issues; and

may have regard to any other place naming issues the chief executive considers appropriate.

Also, if the proposal relates to changing or discontinuing an approved name of a place (an existing name), in developing the proposal the chief executive must consider whether it would be appropriate to continue the existing name as an approved name of the place in addition to any other approved names of the place for a period of up to 5 years.

In considering the matter under subsection (3), the chief executive—

must have regard to—

the stated place naming issues mentioned in section 6(2)(e), (f)(i), (g) and (h); and

the public interest; and

may have regard to any other place naming issues.

The chief executive must publish a notice of the proposal, unless publication is not required because of section 10.

The notice—

must be published in the gazette and in at least 1 of the following ways—

on a relevant website;

in an electronic version of a newspaper;

in a regional newspaper circulating generally in the area of the place to which the proposal relates; and

may be published in another way the Minister considers appropriate.

The notice must—

describe the place to which the proposal relates; and

state the proposal; and

invite submissions about the proposal from interested persons, groups of persons and bodies; and

specify a day by which submissions are to be made; and

specify an address where submissions may be sent.

The day specified in the notice must be at least 1 month after the day the notice is published in the gazette.

This section applies in relation to a proposal about a place name if the chief executive is satisfied—

the proposal relates only to a minor or technical matter; or

the proposal relates to the changing or discontinuing of an approved name that—

is distressing to a community or part of the community, including, for example, a community or group of Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islander people, having regard to the historical or cultural significance of the approved name; or

is derogatory, racist or sexist; or

the proposal is not likely to be of substantial interest to the community or any particular part of the community; or

if the proposal has already been subject to public consultation—

the public consultation was adequate; or

further public consultation is likely to cause substantial distress to the community or part of the community, including, for example, a community or group of Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islander people.

The chief executive need not comply with section 9 in relation to the proposal before making a recommendation to the Minister under section 10A.

After complying with sections 8 to 10, the chief executive must make a recommendation to the Minister about the proposal.

The recommendation must include—

a brief summary of the place naming issues considered by the chief executive in developing the proposal; and

if the proposal is to change or discontinue an approved name of the place—

whether the chief executive considers the existing name should continue as an approved name of the place as mentioned in section 8(3); and

if the chief executive considers the existing name should continue as an approved name of the place—the period of up to 5 years during which the chief executive considers the existing name should continue as an approved name; and

if notice of the proposal was published under section 9—a brief summary of the submissions, if any, received by the chief executive; and

if notice of the proposal was not published because of section 10—reasons for the chief executive’s decision not to publish a notice of the proposal.

This section applies if—

a notice of the proposal was not published because of section 10; and

the Minister considers it would be appropriate, for any reason, to publish the notice before a decision is made under section 11.

The Minister may ask the chief executive to comply with section 9 in relation to the proposal.

The chief executive must—

comply with the Minister’s request; and

make a new recommendation to the Minister under section 10A about the proposal.