Queensland Place Names Act of 1958 (7 Eliz Ii No. 10) (Qld)

PLACE NAMES. 7 Eraz. II. No. 10, 1958. Queensland Place Names Act. 207 PLACE NAMES. An Act to Make Better Provision for the Naming 7|oLIZi0n- of Places in Queensland and to Provide for Q ueensland the Establishment of a Queensland Place a ^0 1X1 Names Committee and a Queensland Place Names Board. [A ssented to 10 th A pril , 1958.] B E it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legis­ lative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— 1. This Act may be cited as “ The Queensland short title. Place Names Act of 1958.” 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise Definitions, indicates or requires, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them, that is to say “Board”—The Queensland Place Names Board Board, constituted under this Act; “ Committee ”—The Queensland Place Names Committee. Committee constituted under this Act; “ Minister ”—The Minister for Public Lands andMinister- Irrigation or other Minister of the Crown for the time being charged with the administration of this Act; “ Surveyor-General ”—The Surveyor-General of Surveyor- the State of Queensland for the time being or General- the person who for the time being occupies the office or performs the duties of the said Surveyor-General; “ Town ”—Includes any parcel of land outside a Town, city or town, divided into areas for building purposes.

208 PLACE NAMES. Queensland Place Names Act. 7 E liz . II. No. 10, The Queensland Place Names Committee. TPQlhuaeeceenNslaanmdes const3it.u(t1e.d) Faorcotmhempitutereposwehs icohf tshhisallAcbte thcearleledsha“llTbhee Committee. Queensland Place Names Committee ” (in this Act referred to as the “ Committee ”). The Committee shall be deemed to be established on and from the date of the first appointment of the members thereof. Membership. (2.) (a) The Committee shall consist of a chairman and twelve other members. (b) The Surveyor-General shall be ex officio a member of the Committee and chairman thereof. A person who is an officer of the Survey Office, Department of Public Lands, and nominated in that behalf by the Surveyor-General, may act in the office of chairman during such time as the Surveyor-General is prevented by absence, illness or otherwise from performing the duties of the office of chairman and the person so nominated, whilst so acting, shall have and may exercise all of the powers, authorities and functions, and shall perform all the duties of the chairman. Such a nomination shall be in writing and may be made generally or subject to such limitations as to time or otherwise as are specified therein. The Surveyor- General may, in writing, revoke any such nomination. (c) The other members of the Committee shall be appointed from time to time by the Minister by notification published in the Gazette. (d) Of the persons appointed as members of the Committee under paragraph (c) of this subsection two— (i.) One shall be an officer of The Department of Education; (ii.) One shall be an officer of the Department of Main Roads ; (iii.) One shall be an officer of the Railway Department; (iv.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Anthropological Society of Queensland ; (v.) One shall be a person who is nominated by The Historical Society of Queensland (Incorporated);

PLACE NAMES. 209 1958. Queensland Place Names Act. (vi.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Library Board of Queensland ; (vii.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Local Government Association of Queensland (Incorporated); (viii.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Oxley Memorial Library Advisory Committee; (ix.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Post Office Historical Society ; (x.) One shall be a person who is nominated by the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland ; and (xi.) Two shall be persons who are nominated by the Senate of The University of Queensland. (3.) Subject to this Act every member of the Tenure of Committee other than the ex officio member thereof— offioe' (i.) Shall be eligible for reappointment; and (ii.) Shall hold office for the respective term for which he is appointed or reappointed, but no such appointment or reappointment shall be for a term exceeding three years. (4.) Where by or under any Act provision is made Where requiring the holder of an office specified therein to Gwe^fent devote the whole of his time to the duties of his office, Department* such provision shall not operate to disqualify him from aPPointed- holding that office and also the office of a member or acting chairman or member of the Committee. (5.) (a) The Committee shall meet at such times Proceedings and places as may be prescribed or, in so far as not committee prescribed, as the chairman may from time to time meetings, determine : Provided that not more than four months shall elapse between meetings of the Committee : Provided further that the chairman shall convene a meeting of the Committee within twenty-one days of the receipt of a requisition in writing in that regard signed by not less than four members of the Committee. (6) The Committee shall conduct its business in such manner as may be prescribed or, in so far as not prescribed, as it may from time to time determine.

210 PLACE NAMES. Queensland Place Names Act. 7 E li z . II. No. 10, Quorum. (c) Five members of the Committee for the time being (one of whom shall be the chairman or the person nominated in that behalf by the Surveyor-General to act in the office of chairman) shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Committee, and any duly convened meeting at which a quorum is present shall be competent to transact any business of the Committee and shall have and may exercise all the powers, authorities and functions, and may perform all of the duties of the Committee. The decision of a majority of the members present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be a decision of the Committee. ( d ) The chairman, or in his absence the person, if any, nominated in that behalf by him, shall preside at all meetings of the Committee at which he is present. The person presiding at any meeting of the Committee shall have a vote and when there is an equal division of votes upon any question shall have a second or casting vote. Defects in (e) No act or proceeding of the Committee shall be not>toltm6nt invalid or illegal in consequence only of the number of invalidate the members of the Committee not being complete at proceedings time of such act or proceeding. committee. acts an(j proceedings of the Committee shall, notwithstanding any defect in the appointment of any member thereof, or that any member was disqualified or disentitled to act, be as valid as if every such member had been duly appointed and was qualified and entitled to act and had acted as a member of the Committee and as if the Committee had been properly and fully constituted. Functions 4. The functions of the Committee shall be to Committee. a(ivise the Board with respect to— (a) The general work of the Board ; (b) Any particular matter of investigation or research; and (c) Any matter which the Board refers to the Committee for advice.

PLACE NAMES. 211 1958. Queensland Place Names Act. The Queensland Place Names Board. 5. (1.) For the purposes of this Act there shall be The constituted a board which shall be called “ The Queensland Place Names Board ” (in this Act referred Board, to as the “ Board ”). The Board shall be deemed to be established on and from the date of the first appointment of the members thereof. (2.) (a) The Board shall consist of a chairman and Membership, four other members. (b) The Surveyor-General shall ex officio be a member of the Board and chairman thereof. A person who is an officer of the Survey Office, Department of Public Lands, and nominated in that behalf by the Surveyor-General may act in the office of chairman during such time as the Surveyor-General is prevented by absence, illness or otherwise from performing the duties of the office of chairman, and the person so nominated, whilst so acting, shall have and may exercise all of the powers, authorities and functions, and shall perform all of the duties of the chairman. Such a nomination shall be in writing and may be made generally or subject to such limitations as to time or otherwise as are specified therein. The Surveyor- General may in writing revoke any such nomination. (c) The other members of the Board who shall be members of the Committee shall be appointed from time to time by the Governor in Council by notification published in the Gazette. (d) Of the persons appointed as members of the Board under paragraph (c) of this subsection— (i.) Two shall be members of the Committee who are nominated by the Committee ; and (ii.) Two shall be members of the Committee appointed upon the recommendation of the Minister. (3.) (a) Subject to this Act every member of the Tenure of Board other than the ex officio member thereof— (i.) Shall be eligible for reappointment; and (ii.) Shall hold office for the respective term for which he is appointed or reappointed but no such appointment or reappointment shall be for a term exceeding three years.

212 PLACE NAMES, Queensland Place Names Act. 7 E liz . II. No, 10, (b) The office of a member of the Board, other than the ex officio member thereof, shall— (i.) Commence on the date of his appointment thereto; and (ii.) Become vacant if such member— (a) Dies or becomes mentally sick ; or (b) Becomes bankrupt or compounds with his creditors, or otherwise takes advantage of the laws in force for the time being relating to bankruptcy; or (c) Is absent without leave granted by the Board from three consecutive ordinary meetings of the Board of which due notice has been given to him ; or ( d ) Resigns his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Minister (such resignation shall be complete and shall take effect from the time when it is received by the Minister); or (e) Is convicted of an indictable offence ; or (/) Is removed from office by the Governor in Council by notification published in the Gazette on the grounds of mental or physical incapacity to perform his duties or because of any conduct which, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, shows the member to be unfit to be a member of the Board : Provided that the attendance of any such member at the time and place appointed for an ordinary meeting shall be deemed to constitute presence at an ordinary meeting notwithstanding that by reason that no quorum is present no meeting is actually held on that day, and the secretary to the Board shall enter in the minute book the names of all members who so attend. Extra­ ordinary vacancies. (4.) When a vacancy arises in the office of a member of the Board other than the ex officio member by death, resignation, or otherwise howsoever, the Governor in Council shall upon the recommendation of the Minister appoint, by notification published in the Gazette, a member to hold office for the remainder of the term of his predecessor.

PLACE NAMES. 213 1958. Queensland Place Names Act. This subsection applies so as not to affect the power of the Governor in Council to appoint a person to act temporarily in any such office during a vacancy therein. (5.) If any member of the Board other than the Appoint­ ex officio member thereof is at any time prevented by mdeepnuttioefs. absence, illness, or otherwise from performing the duties of his office, the Governor in Council may, by notification published in the Gazette , appoint another person to act in that office during such time as the other member is so prevented from performing such duties, and the person so appointed, whilst so acting, shall have and may exercise all of the powers, authorities and functions, and shall perform all of the duties of the member in whose place he acts. (6.) No person shall be concerned to inquire whether Validity or not any occasion has arisen requiring or authorising poefrascotnss, the person nominated in that behalf by the Surveyor- acting as General to act in the place of the Surveyor-General, or deputies. a person thereunto appointed to act in the place of a member of the Board other than the ex officio member, or as to the necessity or propriety of any such nomination or appointment; and all acts or things done or omitted by the person so nominated or a person when so acting as aforesaid shall be as valid and effectual and shall have the same consequences as if the same had been done or omitted by the Surveyor-General or the member in whose place such nominated person or other person, as the case may be, is acting. (7.) Each member of the Board shall receive such Allowances, allowances, or fees, or allowances and fees, if any, as the &c. Governor in Council may from time to time determine. • Any such determination may from time to time be i revoked or amended. ■ Any such determination with respect to any member ! may differ according to class of payment or rate or both j class and rate from any determination with respect to j any other member. (8.) Where by or under any Act provision is made Where requiring the holder of an office specified 'therein to oGffoivceerrsnmofent devote the whole of his time to the duties of his office, or Departments prohibiting him from engaging in employment outside appointed. the duties of his office, such provision shall not operate to disqualify him from holding that office and also the

214 PLACE NAMES. Queensland Place Names Act. 7 E liz . II. No. 10, office of a member or acting chairman or member of the Board or from accepting and retaining any remuneration, fees or allowances payable to a member under subsection seven of this section. Proceedings (9.) (a) The Board shall meet at such times and of the Board places and conduct its business in such manner as may be meetings. prescribed or, in so far as not prescribed, as it may from time to time determine. Quorum. (6) Three members of the Board for the time being (one of whom shall be the chairman or the person nominated in that behalf by the Surveyor-General to act in the office of chairman) shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Board, and any duly convened meeting at which a quorum is present shall be competent to transact any business of the Board and shall have and may exercise all the powers, authorities and functions, and may perform all of the duties of the Board. The decision of a majority of the members present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be a decision of the Board. Chairman. (c) The chairman, or in his absence the person, if any, nominated in that behalf by him, shall preside at all meetings of the Board at which he is present. (d) The person presiding at any meeting of the Board shall have a vote and when there is an equal division of votes upon any question shall have a second or casting vote. Defects in ( e ) No act or proceeding of the Board shall be napopt otointment invalid or illegal in consequence only of the number of invalidate the members of the Board not being complete at the porfoBcoeaedrdin.gs time of such act or proceeding. All acts and proceedings of the Board shall, notwithstanding any defect in the appointment of any member thereof, or that any member was disqualified or disentitled to act, be as valid as if every such member had been duly appointed and was qualified and entitled to act and had acted as a member of the Board and as if the Board had been properly and fully constituted. Committees (10.) (a) The Board may appoint such advisory of Board. committees as it thinks fit to advise it on such matters within the scope of its functions as are referred to those committees by the Board.

PLACE NAMES. 215 1958. QueenslandPlaceNamesAct. ( b ) A person may be appointed to be a member of a committee under this subsection notwithstanding that he is not a member of the Board. 6. The Governor in Council may from time to time Secretary appoint an officer of the Survey Office, Department of*°,foard Public Lands, to be secretary to the Board and to the Committee. Committee and the officer so appointed may hold his appointment under this Act in conjunction with his office as an officer of the Survey Office, Department of Public Lands. Functions and Powers of Board. shall 7 b . e (1.) The powers and functions of the Board ofPufontwhceteirosnasnd (i.) To adopt rules of orthography andBoard* nomenclature and to standardise pronunciation in respect of place names in Queensland; (ii.) To investigate and determine the priority of the discovery of any geographical feature ; (iii.) Subject to this Act, to consider and determine any proposed alteration in a place name ; (iv.) To assign a name to any place in Queensland ; (v.) To alter the name of any place in Queensland by substituting another name, or by correcting the spelling of the name thereof; (vi.) To omit from official maps and records the name of any place ; (vii.) To compile and maintain a gazetteer ; (viii.) To make inquiries and recommendations on such matters relating to the naming of places in Queensland as may be referred to it by the Minister; (ix.) To prepare and publish an index of names of places in Queensland with a record of their origin and history ; (x.) To collect aboriginal names and words with meanings for new place names ; (xi.) To investigate and determine, as far as possible, the locality and/or the boundaries of any area covered by a place name ;

216 PLACE NAMES. Queensland, Place Names Act. 7 E liz . II. No. 10, (xii.) To exercise and perform such other powers and duties as are conferred or imposed on it by or under this Act; (xiii.) To furnish a report to each meeting of the Committee on the actions taken by the Board since the last preceding meeting of the Committee. Definition (2.) In this section “ place ” includes any town, of " place.” township, goldfield, mineral field, area of land, locality, mountain, hill, peak, range, pass, glen, valley, forest, river, stream, creek, ford, lake, lagoon, marsh, island, bay, harbour, cape, promontory, railway station, permanent mark, school, or other topographical feature but does not include a road in a city or town. Special 8. No Order in Council shall be made under the rperloavtiisnigontso provisions of paragraph (ii.) of subsection one of the naming section five of *“ The Local Government Acts, 1936 to toofwcnitsie, sa, nd 1957,” altering the name of a city, town, or shire unless shires. the question of the altered name of the city, town, or shire, as the case may be, has been referred to the Board as prescribed and the Board has reported to the Governor in Council that it approves of the altered name. Notice of intention to assign or alter a place name. 9. Where the Board proposes to assign or alter the name of a place pursuant to this Act, it— (а) Shall cause to be published in the Gazette and in some newspaper circulating in the neighbourhood of such place a notice of its intention so to do, specifying in the notice the proposed name or alteration ; and (б) Shall cause a copy of the notice, as soon as practicable after its publication, to be displayed at the office of a clerk of petty sessions situate at or nearest to such place and to be kept so displayed until the expiration of a period of one month from the date of its publication. ntOoabmpjerecotopiroonsed propo1s0e.d ( n1a. ) meAonry alpteerrastoionnoabsjecatfionrgesaitdo maanyyat saunchy alteration. time within the period of one month referred to in section nine of this Act give to the secretary to the Board notice in writing of his objection, setting out the grounds of the objection. * 1 G. 6 No. 1 and amending Acts. | i i ;

1958. PLACE NAMES. Queensland Place Names Act. 217 (2.) As soon as practicable after the expiration of the aforesaid period of one month the Board shall inquire into and dispose of all objections made pursuant to this section, and shall report in writing to the Minister, setting out the grounds of the objections, and its decision thereon. (3.) The Minister, after such inquiry as he thinks fit, may confirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the Board, and his decision shall be final. 11. If no objection is received by the Board ^ no within the aforesaid period of one month the Board’s BoMd's*4 decision as to the proposed name or alteration shall decision to be final. beflDaL 12. (1.) The Board shall cause notice of the Publication decision of the Minister in respect of the proposed name d^Son as or alteration, or, if there has been no such objection as to name or aforesaid, the decision of the Board thereon, to bealteratl0n- published in the Gazette. A copy of the notice so published shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, be displayed at the office of a clerk of petty sessions situate at or nearest to such place and shall be kept so displayed until the expiration of a period of one month from the date of such publication as aforesaid. (2.) Every such decision as aforesaid shall take effect only on such date as may be specified in the notice, being a date not earlier than three months after the date of publication in the Gazette, under section nine of this Act, of the notice of intention to assign or alter the name. (3.) A copy of the Gazette containing any notice published pursuant to this section shall be conclusive evidence that the name or alteration to which the notice relates has been duly assigned or made on the date specified in the notice. Miscellaneous. 13. The Board may cause to be published in the Publication Gazette any gazetteer or index of names of places prepared ^fcfazetteer’ by it pursuant to this Act. A copy of the Gazette containing any such gazetteer or index shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that the names in the gazetteer or, as the case may be, index are approved for the purposes of this Act.

218 PLACE NAMES. Queensland PlaceNamesAct. 7 E liz . II. No. 10, Names in 14. (1.) No person shall publish or cause to he scientific published in any geographic or scientific manuscript or manuscripts, publication, or in any guide-book, handbook, pamphlet, publications, road-map, or other publication intended for the use of travellers or tourists generally, or on any map in any such manuscript or publication as aforesaid, any name purporting to be the name of any place, locality, or natural feature in Queensland to which any provision of this Act applies, unless the name appears on a map previously published by or under the direction or control of the Surveyor-General, or is a name assigned to or approved for that place, locality, or natural feature pursuant to this Act: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply with respect to the printing or publication as aforesaid of any name if it is stated in the manuscript or other publication or, as the case may require, on the map, that the name has not been approved by the Board. (2.) Every person who acts in contravention of or fails to comply with the provisions of this section commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds. Annual report. 15. The chairman of the Board shall, as soon as practicable, after the thirtieth day of June in each year, prepare and furnish to the Minister a report on the proceedings of the Board during the year ended on that date. ^Regulations. 16. The Governor in Council may from time to time make such regulations providing for all or any purposes, whether general or to meet particular cases, as in his opinion are convenient for the administration of this Act or as in his opinion are necessary or expedient for carrying out the objects and purposes of this Act. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, regulations may be made for or in respect of all or any of the following purposes, matters and things :— (a) Prescribing any forms or other documents required for the purposes of this Act; (b) Prescribing the form of and the method of keeping any records to be kept by the Board and the Committee for the purposes of this Act;

1958. PLACE NAMES. Queensland Place Names Act. 219 ( c) Prescribing and regulating the disqualification and removal from office of members of the Committee other than the ex officio member, the appointment of deputies for, and the resignation from office of, such members ; (d) Regulating the procedure of the Board and the Committee ; (e) Providing such other matters as may be necessary for the efficient discharge by the Board and the Committee of their duties and functions under this Act; (/) All matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed excepting such a matter (if any) so required to be prescribed otherwise than by regulation. 17. (1.) Every regulation made under this Act Publication shall regulations. (i.) Be published in the Gazette ; (ii.) Upon its publication in the Gazette, be judicially noticed and such publication shall be conclusive evidence of the matters contained therein; (iii.) Take effect from the date of such publication unless a later date is specified in that or any other regulation for its commencement when in such event it shall take effect from that later date; and (iv.) Be laid before the Legislative Assembly within fourteen sitting days after such publication, if the Legislative Assembly is in session, and if not, then within fourteen sitting days after the commencement of the next session. (2.) If the Legislative Assembly passes a resolution of which notice has been given at any time within fourteen sitting days after any such regulation has been laid before it disallowing the same or part thereof, that regulation or part shall thereupon cease to have effect, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done in the meantime or to the making of a further regulation.