Australians will be prompted to include traditional place names when addressing letters and parcels from July 2021, after a community campaign

 

ABC News, 5 July 2021:

Australians will be prompted to include traditional place names when addressing letters and parcels from July 2021, after a community campaign.(ABC News: Margaret Paul)

Australians will now be prompted to include traditional place names when addressing letters and parcels, after a community campaign.

The new Australia Post packaging will include a dedicated spot where customers can choose to include the First Nation country, just above the street address on a letter or parcel.

It will be phased in as stock becomes available, as part of NAIDOC week.

Gomeroi woman Rachael McPhail has been petitioning Australia Post to make the change, as part of a campaign to include traditional place names in all addresses.

"For every town, for every place in this country, we have an original name, and it's important to use them as a celebration and to recognise the history and the connection of First People to country," she said.

She said the next step was compiling a comprehensive database of all traditional place names, so people could easily work out where to send their mail.

She said that would require a national, collaborative effort.

"What that entails is comprehensive and respectful consultation with First Nations people, elders, and community leaders, all around the country," she said.

"We need to make sure we are recording and collating that information all around the country."…….