Nominate a person for commemoration

The naming of places is a great way to commemorate and recognise people who:

• have made a significant contribution or
• had a positive impact on the development of the Northern Territory (NT) and its community.

Names accepted for commemoration will be held for use in a future naming opportunity, or can be accompanied by a request to name a specific place.

Who can be commemorated

The Place Names Committee will usually only consider requests to commemorate a person through a place name when the person has been deceased for at least 12 months.

How to make a request

In the NT, the committee applies a number of guidelines when considering a request to officially name a place.

Requests can be submitted through Place Names Online. However, it is recommended that members of the community discuss their interest in developing a request with the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment beforehand to ensure that the information included in the request is complete and meets all requirements.

Find out how to contact us.

Before a request is considered by the committee, the information provided in the request will be reviewed by the department and you may be contacted to provide further information or clarification.

Read more about how places are named.

Information you need to include

Requests to commemorate a person must include:

• documentation showing that the family or descendants of the person have been consulted, and agree to all of the below:
  • the request being made to the committee
  • details of the person, including their biographical information, significant achievements and relevant photographs, being held by the department and provided to select third parties seeking naming suggestions for a specific place, and ultimately made publicly available on the place names database
  • their contact details (name, phone number and email) being provided to select third parties to facilitate future mandatory consultation - should the name be identified for a future request to name a specific place
• detailed biographical information of the person proposed to be held by the department includes (but not limited to):
  • full name, previous names - such as maiden name, aliases and nicknames
  • date and location of both birth and death
  • significant achievements and contributions to the NT’s community, development and history
  • significant dates such as marriages, divorces, births of children
  • names of spouses and children
  • education details, profession or military service information, including awards
  • suitability as a fit and proper person for commemoration including information on any criminal convictions
  • any relevant photographs, newspaper clippings that may support consideration of the request by the committee - if available.

Names accepted for future naming opportunities

Upon request, the department can provide details of people accepted for commemoration through future naming opportunities to third parties such as subdivision developers and local government councils to help them identify potential names for places such as:

• new roads
• parks
• bridges.

While preliminary support has been given by the committee that the person is suitable for commemoration, any proposal to use a name for a specific place must include engagement with interested persons.

This would include engagement with:

• surviving relatives/descendants
• or local Traditional Owners where the selected name is also an Aboriginal language word.

The view of the local government council is also required to be sought if the place is located within a local government area.

Naming a specific place after someone

There are requirements that apply to naming places.

For example only surnames are used in commemorative road namings while full name commemorations can be used for parks, eg Smith Road vs Mary Jane Smith Park.

There can also be issues of duplication. For example, if ‘Smith Street’, or other similar sounding names such as Smyth, Mith, Smit already exist in a nearby area.

Developing a request that recognises these requirements and limitations enables smoother and faster consideration by the committee.

Find out more by reading how places are named or contact us.