Gender Equity Victoria’s Put Her Name On It initiative has a big vision. We want to see women and gender diverse people equally represented and recognised in place naming and public art everywhere. With women making up just  3%[i] of public art and 1 in 10 for places names, systemic change and on the ground action is needed.

“When it comes to gender equality, Victoria leads the nation. With great strides taken towards making the state fairer and more equal for all, Gender Equity Victoria are thrilled to be part of the strong foundations that have been laid to achieve commemorative justice in our state to date” says Micaela Drieberg, CEO at Gender Equity Victoria (GEN VIC). “The visibility of all genders in public places is crucial in fostering a culture that values diversity and inclusion and is essential for a more equal world”

From today GEN VIC and Geographic Names Victoria will once again be working together to strengthen collaborative action and deliver a range of new initiatives to Put Her Name On It.  We will build sector capability, monitor progress and support the Victorian Government to achieve the target set by Our Equal State, Victoria’s Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan 2023-27 to have 70% of all new commemorative naming after women.

Over the next 12 months we will focus efforts on supporting naming authorities including local government to gain skills, knowledge and access to tools so they can advance place naming and commemoration equality. We will:

• reinvigorate the Put Her Name On It stakeholder reference group and continue to develop new partnerships;
• promote statewide base line data about gender equality in place naming and public art;
• guide sector capability building through new resources, programs and events; and
• monitor and promote progress.

Kerry Wilson, Put Her Name on It Project Lead at GEN VIC says “Place naming and public art equality is important legacy work. Ensuring women and gender diverse folk take their rightful place in history and are made visible through the naming of streets, locations, features and through public art will make a contribution to gender equality, help dismantle limiting stereotypes, create safer and more inclusive public places, and contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence.”

[i] 2022 Victorian Local Government Place Naming and Commemoration research project