In 2015, Australia commemorated the 100-year anniversary of the Anzac forces landing at Gallipoli. During the Anzac centenary period of 2014–18, the Victorian government also conducted a commemorative naming project in partnership with councils and naming authorities.
While the project has formally ended, Victorians can still acknowledge the wartime service and sacrifice of their local military service people and locals who supported Australia's military cause.
Victorians can research people from their municipalities and submit naming proposals to their local councils in honour of Anzac service people.
Councils then decide which name proposals should be used to name or rename roads, geographical features or localities.
There is also the opportunity to submit extra information about the history of a new or existing commemorative Anzac name to the VICNAMES register.
Not only will the work help commemorate service men and women and those who have displayed the Anzac spirit, your submission may result in a road, street, feature, or locality being named and historical information being recorded online for future generations.
To apply you should follow the steps to:
Once approved, the council will add the name and history to the VICNAMES register.
Your first port of call should be to visit a local war memorial site, cenotaph, and/or honour board, where you will find a list of names.
Alternatively, speak with members of your local historical society. The guidance note on researching names will also provide information to help you utilise online search engines and begin the process of successfully researching an appropriate name.
Each name proposal should be documented in the name checklist template available online and submitted to council for further compliance checks.
The template details the information required for a valid commemorative name proposal, and an example of a completed template for you to follow is on the website.
Researchers are required to submit to their council a name proposal checklist.
Your council will ensure that all name proposals conform with the Naming rules. The naming rules provide the basis for approving or rejecting name proposals.
When your council has confirmed the name(s) conform to the naming rules, it may begin assigning the names to new features, localities or roads, and/or consider renaming where appropriate. Community consultation is also part of the approval process. Council would also most likely seek councillor approval before any name proposals are submitted to Geographic Names Victoria (GNV).
Councils use VES – the online Vicmap Editing Service – to provide name proposals to GNV. Only registered users, like councils, can use VES.
GNV will audit the process undertaken by council before submitting the name proposal and ensure the name complies with the guidelines.
GNV will gazette and register the new name in the Victoria Government Gazette and enter the new name into the VICNAMES database. Council will be informed of the name proposal gazette date and that the information is now available online.
Geographic Names Victoria defines ‘Anzac’ as referring to all men and women who have served in an operational capacity in the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces or who have made a notable contribution towards the Anzac spirit. Appropriate names include:
Often there will be commemorative names that are already in use within the community. The name can still be researched and the information submitted to VICNAMES for inclusion in the register. The historical information, once approved, will be available online for future generations of Victorians.
Not only will the work help commemorate service men and women and those who have displayed the Anzac spirit, your submission may result in a road, street, feature, or locality being named and historical information being recorded online for future generations.
Dedicated guidance notes are available on this website that will direct you to online resources to conduct your research. You could also approach your local council, historical society or RSL for information about existing Anzac names. Often the best place to start is finding the local honour board or commemorative cenotaph which will list the names of those in your community who have served.
If a name is already in use within the community, you can still research and submit extra historical information to VICNAMES register.
This will be available online for future generations of Victorians.
Often the best start is finding the local honour board or monument which will list the names of those in your community who have served.
You can also approach your local council, historical society or RSL for information about existing Anzac names.
Geographic Names Victoria defines ‘Anzac’ as referring to all men and women who have:
You may consider the names of individual Anzacs who were born, lived or based in that Victorian locality or other significant items of military history, like:
Places could include former sites, including:
For more information and online resources on how to conduct your research, see how to name a place:
Page last updated: 14/09/23