Gimuy, Rubibi... Why Australia is encouraging visitors to recognize Indigenous place names

To celebrate and acknowledge Australia's Aboriginal cultural heritage, Tourism Australia has announced it will be adopting a dual-naming approach for capital cities and other major locations.

The 60,000 years of Indigenous custodianship is recognised by dual-naming.

Learning from Australia's Indigenous storytellers.

A number of Australian place names have dual names. In 1993 the name of the rock in the Northern Territory was changed to "Ayers Rock", before it was officially changed to "Uruguay Rock" in 2002.

The Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time, Sir Henry Ayers, was the person who named the rock after. The change was a show of respect for the Anangu people.

Fraser Island, a World Heritage-listed island on the Queensland coast, was renamed K&gari (Fraser Island) in 2017.

Tourism Australia worked with local elders and traditional owners to confirm the name of each location. The whole geographical footprint is not always represented by the name of the entire city. Warrane is the original Gadigal name for Sydney Cove.

Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director Tourism Australia said they would do this gradually and in consultation. We have been doing dual-naming on our social media for a few months but we are going to do it across our content.

Australia Post will include traditional place names on mailing addresses in 2020, after a Gomeroi woman petitioned the organization.

For every place in this country, we have an original name, and it is important to use it as a celebration to remember the history of the First People to Country.

Postage labels now have a space for place names. The variations in transliterations have evolved with greater understanding.

Tourism Australia is taking this knowledge to the international traveler market.

Overseas visitors are always interested in learning more about Australia's Indigenous cultures. Tourism Australia's Discover Aboriginal Experiences collective promotes top tourism experiences for adventure seekers, culture enthusiasts, foodies and nature lovers planning a trip.

I took Aboriginal tours over the past year.

There are more than 185 outstanding Aboriginal-guided experiences to discover across Australia. A local guide can bring the sounds of the desert and the stories of the Milky Way above to life by sharing their cultural heritage with you.

Knowing the location of your land is just the beginning of a journey to learn about the history and cultures of Australia. Now that Australia has re-opened its borders, this dual-naming initiative will hopefully encourage visitors to do that.