Put her name on it

GIPPSLAND CAMPAIGN AIMS TO ACKNOWLEDGE WOMEN’S

CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMMUNITY

A campaign which aims to address the place names gender gap is building on the work Bass Coast Shire Council has been doing to acknowledge local, notable women when naming new streets and places.

The Put Her Name On It campaign, spearheaded by Women in Gippsland and local Councils, is gaining momentum. It aims to acknowledge the achievements of women by having more locations named in their honour.

Warragul resident and campaign co-founder Kerry Wilson has lobbied Gippsland's Councils to conduct audits of the region's streets, locations, and landmarks in a bid to shed a light on the gender gaps in Victoria's place naming system.

“Having so few public places named after women is an alarming example of gender inequality and sends a dangerous message that women (and their contributions) are not as important as men,” Kerry Wilson said.

“We want to see that change and are calling on the State and Local Governments to prioritise the acknowledgment of women in public place naming and commemoration.”

Bass Coast Shire undertook an audit and found underrepresentation of female place names for localities, roads and streets. Bass Coast Shire CEO Ali Wastie said that the #puthernameonit campaign was important to address the under-representation of women in place names, right across Gippsland.

“At Council, our Place Names Committee aims to work with local historical societies and community groups to identify local, notable women who we would like to honour and recognise by ‘putting her name on it,’” Ms Wastie said.

“In recent years, Gilmour Track in Cape Paterson was named in honour of Annie Gilmour, a valued member of the lifesaving club who taught many to swim and survive in the ocean, and Davidson Place Wonthaggi was named in honour of Ruby May Davidson, who owned and ran the farm ‘Mayfield’ from 1935, supplying the local community with her hand made produce.” Ms Wastie said the Committee was also working on a Gender Audit, with 1,500 road names to be assessed, as well as an unknown number of named features to be searched for.

“The reality is, the majority of places, buildings, ovals and pavilions are named after men, and while this project is not about undoing history, it is about taking the opportunity when we can to acknowledge the women who helped make Bass Coast what it is today,” Ms Wastie said.

“It is a lengthy and difficult process to re-name existing streets or places, so we are taking the approach of naming new streets and new places after women as part of this campaign.

“The research we are doing is great, but the most important thing is to start seeing the names of women in the community for all to recognise. This is where the change will be made,” Ms Wastie said.

The campaign is also focused on naming places after First Nations people and working with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation aiming for greater indigenous acknowledgement.