Welcome

As Victoria’s cities, suburbs, towns and regions continue to grow, we’ll need to name more places including new streets, parks, community facilities and buildings.

Over the next 3 years there will be more than 6,000 new places to name in Victoria. The Department of Transport and Planning are inviting all Victorians to nominate someone who has made a significant contribution to be considered for a new place name, particularly under-represented groups including women and First Nations people.

Let’s commemorate people from all backgrounds, identities and walks of life to ensure place naming reflects the rich diversity of our community.

Public nominations received by Engage Victoria/Department of Transport and Planning will be added to a council name bank, to be considered when places need naming.

Remember a Geelong local, name a place!

Who can be nominated?

Anyone who has left a lasting legacy can be nominated.

For example, the person may be known for community and volunteer work, healthcare, science, architecture and building, sport, arts, public or military service.

We are encouraging nominations to commemorate people from all backgrounds, identities and walks of life to ensure place naming reflects the rich diversity of our community.

We are particularly looking for nominations from communities that are currently under-represented in Victoria’s place names. This includes women, First Nations, LGBTQIA+, people with a disability, and multicultural communities.

Commemorative names recognise people who were held in high regard by the community, usually only after a person is deceased.

To be commemorated, the person will:

  • be deceased (at least 2 years)
  • have left a lasting legacy
  • have a long association with the nominated area.

Click on the 'How to nominate' tab when ready, or find out more at: engage.vic.gov.au/name-a-place.

How to nominate

The nomination form will take about 10 minutes to fill out.

You will need information about the person to be nominated for commemoration, including:

  • a short biography
  • information on their connections to places or areas in Victoria
  • why they are being nominated
  • documentation showing next of kin or family member support (this could be letters or emails)
  • contact details for next of kin if that is not you
  • letters of endorsement from organisations associated to the person.

We recommend that you have all the information ready before you start the form.


  • Nomination form

    Complete the form to nominate a special family member or person in your local community.

    Nominations close Monday 25 November, 2024.

    Nominate now on EngageVic website 

Examples of roads named after females

The name you have nominated will be reviewed and if it is suitable, it will be sent to a local council.

The council will put the name in a name bank for consideration when something needs naming. This might be a new road, park or other geographic feature including a suburb name. Geographic Names Victoria will contact you if you make a submission. We will let you know if the name has been added to a name bank or if we need more information.

Councils will look for names that have a connection to the local area.
The council will need to contact the person’s family to get their agreement.
The community may also need to be consulted. The council might ask for feedback on more than one option.

This means it may take some time before the name you have nominated is used. Not all names that are nominated will be chosen.

You should provide a second contact in the form to make sure the council can reach you about your nomination.

When a name is chosen, the council or other naming authority will send the name to Geographic Names Victoria. If the name complies with The Naming Rules for Places in Victoria 2022, it will be published in the Victorian Government Gazette and registered in VICNAMES, Victoria’s register of geographic names. The historical and biographical information you provide in the form will be added to the name in VICNAMES as part of the official record of the commemoration.

There are special considerations when naming places after First Nations people.

All place naming after First Nations people follows an engagement process with the Traditional Owner Corporation and next of kin.

In First Nations communities, it may not be appropriate to speak or write the name of a person who is deceased, but there are other ways to commemorate a person. For example, they could be commemorated with a locally used (preferred name) or with a name that symbolises the person or their achievements. Warrior Woman Lane in the City of Melbourne is an example of this type of commemorative naming.

Read more about naming places after First Nations people.