Permanent Committee on Place Names


The Permanent Committee on Place Names is a geographical naming authority composed of the various Australian and New Zealand committees on geographical names.
The PCPN started in 1984 as the Committee for Geographical Names in Australia and it was renamed in 2005.
It was integrated within the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping in 1993. It is also associated with the Geospatial and Earth Monitoring Division of Geoscience Australia.
It contributes to the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names.

Annual meetings

Annual meetings followed at:-
  • Bathurst - 1985
  • Adelaide - 1986
  • Darwin - 1987
  • Brisbane - 1988
  • Hobart - 2010
  • Adelaide - 2011
  • Brisbane - 2012
  • Canberra - 2013

    Official authorities

The authorities that work on geographic names and are members of the committee, and the enabling legislation, are as follows: