MEDIA RELEASE

Victoria has reached a landmark milestone in the fight for commemorative justice, with 70 per cent of all new commemorative place names in the state now dedicated to women. This historic high shows the state is leading the way when it comes to re-writing the way history is represented on our streets.

Gender Equity Victoria’s Put Her Name On It campaign has driven the achievement, which sees Victoria climb from just 26 per cent of new place names honouring women in 2022 to 70 per cent in 2025. For generations, women’s contributions have been overlooked when it comes to naming streets, parks, public spaces and statues. 

The Victorian Government is leading the country in transforming how history is told through our streets and public places. The milestone reflects coordinated action across naming authorities, local governments and everyday Victorians who have stepped up to ensure women are recognised and remembered.

This milestone achievement has been made possible through some key driving factors:

• Naming authorities, including local governments across Victoria, applied a gender lens to their naming policies and practices, embedding equity into the decision-making process.
• Everyday Victorians nominated women and gender-diverse people through the Victorian Government’s Remember a Local, Name a Place program, putting community voice at the heart of commemorative justice.
• Through simple, practical steps, Gender Equity Victoria’s Put Her Name On It campaign has provided the public with tools and resources to increase the representation of women and gender-diverse people in public spaces.

Micaela Drieberg, CEO of Gender Equity Victoria (GEN VIC), said reaching 70 per cent was cause for celebration, but also a call to keep going.

“For too long, the story told on our streets has been an incomplete one. Women built this state alongside men – they led movements, made discoveries, and shaped communities. Yet for generations their names were absent from the signs, the parks and monuments we pass every day,” said Ms Drieberg.

“Reaching 70 per cent is a powerful sign that systemic change is possible when government, community and advocates work together with purpose. But this milestone is not the finish line, it’s proof that we must keep going until the history on our streets reflects all of us,” she added.

Kerry Wilson, Director of the Put Her Name On It campaign, said the milestone demonstrated just how much power communities have when they decide to act.

“This achievement belongs to every Victorian who nominated a woman, every council that reviewed its naming practices and every advocate who refused to let women’s contributions be forgotten,” said Ms Wilson.

“When we change what we see in our public spaces, we change what we believe is possible. A girl who sees a park or a street named after a woman like her understands, in her bones, that her contributions matter too. That’s the power of getting this right,” she added.

Put Her Name On It was established by Women in Gippsland in 2020 and has been championed by GEN VIC as a statewide campaign for commemorative justice. GEN VIC works closely with Geographic Names Victoria to ensure Put Her Name On It continues to raise the bar and keep the issue on the agenda for policymakers and all Victorians alike.

For more information about Put Her Name On It, visit genvic.org.au/puthernameonit.

 

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