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FAQ

ANPS Query Form

The information you are seeking may be at one of the following websites:

The National Gazetteer, Geoscience Australia, National Mapping Division
http://auslig.gov.au/mapping/names/natgaz.htm

Australian Capital Territory Land Information Centre
http://www.palm.act.gov.au/actlic/places

Geographical Names Board of New South Wales
http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/geog/search.htm

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/place_names.html

Place Names Online, South Australian State Gazetteer
http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/

Nomenclature Board of Tasmania
http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/themenodes/JGAY-53N55m?open

Names and Places in Western Australia, Department of Lands Administration
http://www.dola.wa.gov.au/home.nsf/(framenames)/names

Victorian Place Names
http://www.vicnames.vic.gov.au/dmb1/plsql/gnr.init

Although the ANPS cannot guarantee you will find the correct answer, the information you are seeking may also be in one of the following published dictionaries of placenames, available at your local library:

Appleton, Richard and Barbara Appleton. The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Blake, L. J. Place names of Victoria. Adelaide: Rigby, 1977.

Cockburn, Rodney. South Australia, what's in a name? Nomenclature of South Australia. Authoritative derivations of some 4000 historically significant place names: Ferguson, 1984 edition (first published 1908).

Department of the Environment, Land and Planning. Canberra's Suburb and Street Names. History, Origins and Meanings. Canberra: Australian Capital Territory Government Printer, 1992.

Kennedy, Brian and Barbara Kennedy. Australian Place Names. Sydney, Auckland, London, Toronto: Hodder and Stroughton, 1989.

Manning, Geoffrey H. Manning's Place Names of South Australia. Adelaide: published by the author, printed and bound by Gillingham Printers, 1990.

Praite, Ronald, and John Clifford Tolley. Place Names of South Australia. Adelaide: Rigby, 1970.

Reed, Alexander Wycliff. Place Names of Australia. Chatswood, Sydney: A.W. Reed, part of William Heinemann Australia, 2nd ed., 1987.

If you want to ask the ANPS some information about the history, origin and meaning of a particular placename, you can do so by filling in the form below. The form asks you to enter:

the name of the place
which type of place it is e.g., hill, river, town, suburb
the state/territory in which the place is located
any information you may already know about the history, origin and meaning of the place

Below you will find an example of a completed query form for a place called Apple Tree Flat (NSW). You can look at this as a model for how to complete the form. If you have any further questions about the form, please contact us (dmblair@hmn.mq.edu.au). You can fill in and submit as many forms as you like, using one form for each place name.

When you complete your form and submit it to the ANPS, we will do our best to answer your query as soon as possible, using the sources currently available to us. Generally we are likely to respond within a fortnight.

[ Sample of Completed ANPS Query Form ]

ANPS Query Form

(* denotes required fields)

*Your email:
Placename:
*Feature Type:	or other (please specify):
State/Territory:
Information required:
Who named this place?
When was it named?
What is the meaning or origin of the name?
Any background information about this placename which you already know:
Last date information is required (dd/mm/yyyy):	/ /