Origins of Current Divisions Name - Current Divisions
| Division | State | Named After |
|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | SA | The city of Adelaide which in turn was named after Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV. |
| Aston | VIC | Tilly Aston 1873-1947, blind writer and teacher who helped found the library of the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1894. |
| Ballarat | VIC | The city of Ballarat. The name is apparently derived from the Aboriginal word ‘balaarat’ meaning ‘a resting or camping place’. |
| Banks | NSW | Named after botanist Sir Joseph Banks 1743-1820, who accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage to Australia in 1770. |
| Barker | SA | Captain Collet Barker 1784-1831, an explorer in South Australia and the Northern Territory. |
| Barton | NSW | Sir Edmund Barton 1849-1920, the first Prime Minister of Australia 1901-1903. |
| Bass | TAS | Dr George Bass 1771-1803, an early settler and explorer. |
| Batman | VIC | John Batman 1801-1839, the early settler and explorer known as the ‘Founder of Melbourne’. |
| Bendigo | VIC | Named after the city which is its main centre. |
| Bennelong | NSW | Aboriginal man befriended by Governor Phillip in 1789. |
| Berowra | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Blair | QLD | Named after Harold Blair AO (1924-1976) a noted Australian tenor and Aboriginal activist. |
| Blaxland | NSW | Gregory Blaxland 1778-1853, an early Australian explorer of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. |
| Bonner | QLD | Named after Neville Thomas Bonner AO in recognition of his services rendered as a Senator and leader of indigenous Australia. |
| Boothby | SA | William Boothby 1829-1903, the Returning Officer for the first election of Members of the House of Representatives in 1901. |
| Bowman | QLD | David Bowman 1860-1916, a Member of the Queensland Parliament 1904-1916. |
| Braddon | TAS | Sir Edward Braddon 1829-1904, Premier of Tasmania 1894-1899, and a Member of the House of Representatives from 1901-1904. |
| Bradfield | NSW | John Bradfield 1867-1943, engineer and bridge designer. |
| Brand | WA | Sir David Brand 1912-1979, Premier of Western Australia, 1959-1971, Member of the Legislative Assembly 1945-1975. |
| Brisbane | QLD | City of Brisbane which was named after Sir Thomas MacDougall Brisbane 1773-1860, Governor of New South Wales 1820-1825. |
| Bruce | VIC | Lord Stanley Bruce 1883-1967, Prime Minister of Australia 1923-1929. |
| Calare | NSW | Aboriginal name for the Lachlan River. |
| Calwell | VIC | Arthur Calwell 1896-1973, Member of the House of Representatives 1940-1972, Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1960-1967. |
| Canberra | ACT | A locality name derived from an Aboriginal word which is held to mean ‘meeting place’. |
| Canning | WA | Alfred Canning 1860-1936, surveyor who pioneered stock roads and rabbit proof fences in Western Australia. |
| Capricornia | QLD | A district name apparently originating from the fact that the Tropic of Capricorn passes through the area. |
| Casey | VIC | Lord Richard Casey 1890-1976, Governor-General of Australia 1965-1969. |
| Charlton | NSW | Matthew Charlton 1866-1948, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1903-1910, Member of House of Representatives 1910-1928 and Leader of the ALP 1922-1928. |
| Chifley | NSW | Joseph Benedict Chifley 1885-1951, Prime Minister of Australia 1945-1949. |
| Chisholm | VIC | Caroline Chisholm 1808-1877, noted social worker and advocate of immigration to New South Wales. |
| Cook | NSW | Captain James Cook 1728-1779, the first European to discover the east coast of Australia in 1770. |
| Corangamite | VIC | Lake Corangamite. The name of the lake originated from the Aboriginal word for ‘bitter’, describing the salt content of the lake. |
| Corio | VIC | Named after Corio Bay which originated from an Aboriginal word ‘coraiyo’ meaning ‘small marsupial’ or ‘sandy cliffs’. |
| Cowan | WA | Edith Cowan 1861-1932, the first female member of an Australian parliament, being elected to the Western Australia Legislative Assembly as the Member for West Perth 1921-1924. |
| Cowper | NSW | Sir Charles Cowper 1807-1875, Premier of New South Wales 25 August - 2 October 1856. |
| Cunningham | NSW | Allan Cunningham 1791-1839, an early Australian explorer. |
| Curtin | WA | John Curtin 1885-1945, Prime Minister of Australia, 1941-1945. |
| Dawson | QLD | Andrew (Anderson) Dawson 1863-1910, Queensland’s first Labor Premier 1899. |
| Deakin | VIC | Sir Alfred Deakin 1856-1919, Prime Minister of Australia 1903-1904, 1905-1908 and 1909-1910. |
| Denison | TAS | Sir William Denison 1804-1871, Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania 1847-1855 and Governor of New South Wales 1855-1861. |
| Dickson | QLD | Sir James Dickson 1832-1901, a leading advocate of Federation, Queensland Premier 1898-1899 and Minister for Defence in the first Federal Ministry. |
| Dobell | NSW | Sir William Dobell 1899-1970, a prominent Australian artist. |
| Dunkley | VIC | Louisa Dunkley 1866-1927, founder of the Victorian Women's Post and Telegraph Association in 1900 and campaigner for equal pay for women. |
| Eden-Monaro | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Fadden | QLD | Sir Arthur Fadden 1895-1973, Prime Minister of Australia August-October 1941. |
| Fairfax | QLD | Ruth Fairfax 1878-1948, a founder of the Country Women's Association and its first Queensland President. |
| Farrer | NSW | William Farrer 1845-1906, a noted wheat breeder and experimentalist. |
| Fisher | QLD | Andrew Fisher 1862-1928, Prime Minister of Australia 1908-1909, 1910-1913, 1914-1915. |
| Flinders | VIC | Matthew Flinders 1774-1814, well-known navigator and explorer. The adoption of the name Australia is due to him. |
| Flynn | QLD | John Flynn, Founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service |
| Forde | QLD | Francis Michael Forde 1890-1983, Member of Legislative Assembly 1917-1922, Member of House of Representatives 1922-1946, Prime Minister of Australia 6-12 July 1945. |
| Forrest | WA | Sir John (later Lord) Forrest 1847-1918, the first Premier of Western Australia 1890-1901. |
| Fowler | NSW | Lilian Fowler 1887-1954, first woman alderman in New South Wales 1929-1948 and first woman mayor in Australia 1938-1939, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1944-1950. |
| Franklin | TAS | Sir John Franklin 1786-1847, Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania 1837-1843. |
| Fraser | ACT | James Fraser 1908-1970, Member of the House of Representatives for the Australian Capital Territory 1951-1970. |
| Fremantle | WA | The city of Fremantle which was named after Captain Charles Fremantle 1800-1869 who established the port at the mouth of the Swan River in 1829. |
| Gellibrand | VIC | Joseph Gellibrand 1786-1836, lawyer and explorer. |
| Gilmore | NSW | Dame Mary Gilmore 1865-1962, a well known poet, author and journalist. |
| Gippsland | VIC | Named after the area which was explored by Angus McMillan in 1839. It was named after Governor Sir George Gipps. |
| Goldstein | VIC | Vida Goldstein 1869-1949, suffragist and feminist. |
| Gorton | VIC | Named after Sir John Gorton, who served as Prime Minister between 1968 and 1971. |
| Grayndler | NSW | Edward Grayndler 1867-1943, a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1921-1934, 1936-1943. He was also appointed General Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union in 1912. |
| Greenway | NSW | Francis Greenway 1777-1837, an architect under Governor Macquarie. |
| Grey | SA | Sir George Grey 1812-1898, Governor of South Australia from 1841-1845. |
| Griffith | QLD | Sir Samuel Griffith 1845-1920, Premier of Queensland 1883-1888, 1890-1893 and Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia 1903-1919. |
| Groom | QLD | Sir Littleton Groom 1867-1936, Member of the House of Representatives 1901-1929 and 1931-1936. Speaker of the House of Representatives 1926-1929. |
| Hasluck | WA | Named after Sir Paul Hasluck (1905-1993), Diplomat, Cabinet Minister and Governor General, and his wife Dame Alexandra Hasluck (1908-93) who, in addition to being a noted author, also held office as National President of the Girl Guides Association and the Australian Red Cross while at Government House in Canberra. |
| Herbert | QLD | Sir Robert Herbert 1831-1905, the first Premier of Queensland 1860-1866. |
| Higgins | VIC | Henry Higgins 1851-1929, Member of the House of Representatives 1901-1906, Justice of the High Court 1906-1929 and President of the new Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court 1907-1921. |
| Hindmarsh | SA | Sir John Hindmarsh 1786-1860, first Governor of South Australia. |
| Hinkler | QLD | Bert Hinkler 1892-1933, pioneer aviator. First person to fly solo from England to Australia 1928. |
| Holt | VIC | Harold Edward Holt 1908-1967, Prime Minister of Australia 1966-1967, who disappeared while swimming off Portsea Beach in 1967. |
| Hotham | VIC | Sir Charles Hotham 1805-1855, Governor of Victoria 1853-1855. |
| Hughes | NSW | William Morris Hughes 1862-1952, Prime Minister of Australia 1915-1923. |
| Hume | NSW | Hamilton Hume 1797-1873, an early explorer. |
| Hunter | NSW | John Hunter 1737-1821, second Governor of New South Wales 1795-1799. |
| Indi | VIC | Aboriginal name for the Murray River. |
| Isaacs | VIC | Sir Isaac Isaacs 1853-1948, Member of the House of Representatives 1901-1906, Chief Justice of the High Court 1930 and Governor-General of Australia 1931-1936. |
| Jagajaga | VIC | Three principal Aboriginal elders who signed a treaty with John Batman in 1835 which gave the white settlers 500 000 acres of land at the north west end of Port Phillip Bay and 100 000 acres around Geelong. |
| Kalgoorlie | WA | The town of Kalgoorlie where gold was discovered in 1893. |
| Kennedy | QLD | Edmund Kennedy 1818-1848, explorer. |
| Kingsford Smith | NSW | Sir Charles Kingsford Smith 1897-1935, Australia’s most famous aviator. |
| Kingston | SA | Charles Kingston 1850-1908, Premier of South Australia 1893-1899. |
| Kooyong | VIC | Aboriginal word meaning ‘resting place’. |
| Lalor | VIC | Peter Lalor 1823-1889, leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion in 1854. In 1855 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council (one of the first representatives elected from the goldfields). |
| La Trobe | VIC | Charles La Trobe 1801-1875, first Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria 1851-1854. |
| Leichhardt | QLD | Friedrich Leichhardt 1813-1848, explorer and scientist. |
| Lilley | QLD | Sir Charles Lilley 1830-1897, former Premier and Chief Justice of Queensland. |
| Lindsay | NSW | Norman Lindsay 1879-1969, a well known writer and artist. |
| Lingiari | NT | Named in honour of Vincent Lingiari OAM (1908-1988) who was a member of the Gurindji people from the Victoria River District. He was a stockman and a land rights leader who worked for many years to improve conditions for Aboriginal people working on cattle stations. Mr Lingiari was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to Aboriginal people. |
| Longman | QLD | Irene Longman 1877-1964, first female member of the Queensland Parliament 1929-1932, and third woman elected to a parliament in Australia. |
| Lowe | NSW | Robert Lowe (later Viscount Sherbrooke) 1811-1892, who advocated the discontinuance of the transportation of convicts to New South Wales. |
| Lyne | NSW | Sir William Lyne 1844-1913, Premier of New South Wales 1899-1901. |
| Lyons | TAS | Joseph Lyons 1879-1939, and Dame Enid Lyons 1897-1981. Joseph Lyons was Prime Minister from 1932-1939. Dame Enid was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives 1943 and the first woman to reach cabinet rank as vice-president of the Executive Council 1949. |
| Macarthur | NSW | Initially named after Captain John Macarthur (1767-1834), an early settler in New South Wales and founder of the Australian merino wool industry. Following the 2000 redistribution of NSW the division was rededicated to honour Elizabeth Macarthur (1769-1850)as well as John Macarthur, in recognition of both of their contributions to the development of New South Wales. |
| Mackellar | NSW | Dorothea Mackellar 1885-1968, a famous Australian poet and novelist. |
| Macquarie | NSW | Governor Lachlan Macquarie 1761-1824, Governor of New South Wales 1810-1821. |
| Makin | SA | Norman Makin 1889-1982, Member of the House of Representatives 1919-1946, 1954-1963 and Speaker of the House 1929-1931. |
| Mallee | VIC | Named after the area in which it is located. Mallee is an Aboriginal word for dwarf eucalypts which grow in the area. |
| Maranoa | QLD | The district name which was taken from the Maranoa River which passes through the area. The river was discovered by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1846 and retained its Aboriginal name. |
| Maribyrnong | VIC | Named after the Maribyrnong River. Maribyrnong is an Aboriginal word for ‘yam’ or ‘edible root’. |
| Mayo | SA | Helen Mayo 1878-1967, co-founder of the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association in 1927 and first woman elected to a University Council of Australia in 1914. |
| McEwen | VIC | Sir John McEwen 1900-1980, he served as caretaker Prime Minister of Australia for three weeks 1967-1968. |
| McMillan | VIC | Angus McMillan 1810-1865, pioneer and explorer who made several trips into Gippsland. |
| McPherson | QLD | Named after the McPherson Range which forms the south boundary of the division. |
| Melbourne | VIC | City of Melbourne which was named in 1837 by Governor Bourke after Lord Melbourne, who was then Prime Minister of Britain. |
| Melbourne Ports | VIC | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Menzies | VIC | Sir Robert Menzies 1894-1978, Prime Minister of Australia 1939-1941 and 1949-1966. |
| Mitchell | NSW | Sir Thomas Mitchell 1792-1855, a noted Australian explorer and surveyor. |
| Moncrieff | QLD | Gladys Moncrieff 1892-1976, light opera and musical comedy singer. |
| Moore | WA | George Fletcher Moore 1798-1886, first Advocate-General in Western Australia 1834. |
| Moreton | QLD | Named after the area in which it is located. Captain Cook named Moreton Bay in 1770 after the Earl of Morton, which was misspelt to become Moreton. |
| Murray | VIC | The Murray River which was named by Charles Sturt in 1830 after Sir George Murray, Colonial Secretary. |
| Newcastle | NSW | The city of Newcastle which was named by Governor King in 1804. |
| New England | NSW | Named after the area of New England, the largest highland area in Australia. |
| North Sydney | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| O'Connor | WA | Charles O'Connor 1843-1902, Engineer in Chief of Western Australia (appointed 1891). Designed Fremantle Harbour and the pipeline which supplies Kalgoorlie and other goldfields with water. |
| Oxley | QLD | John Oxley 1783-1828, noted explorer and surveyor. |
| Page | NSW | Sir Earle Page 1880-1961, Member of the House of Representatives 1919-1961. He served as caretaker Prime Minister of Australia during April 1939. |
| Parkes | NSW | Sir Henry Parkes 1815-1896, former Premier of New South Wales and known as the ‘Father of Federation’. |
| Parramatta | NSW | Locality of Parramatta which was first settled in 1788. The name is Aboriginal for ‘plenty of eels’ or ‘head of river’. |
| Paterson | NSW | Named after Andrew ‘Banjo’ Paterson 1864-1941, Australian author and poet. There is also conjecture that the division was first named in 1947 after Colonel William Paterson 1755-1810 after whom the town and river within the division were named. |
| Pearce | WA | Sir George Pearce 1870-1952, Western Australian Senator 1901-38, Minister for Defence during World War I. |
| Perth | WA | City of Perth which was founded in 1829 under Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling. |
| Petrie | QLD | Andrew Petrie 1798-1872, a noted civil engineer, pioneer, explorer and the first free settler in Brisbane 1837. |
| Port Adelaide | SA | Named after the locality which was discovered by Collet Barker in 1831. |
| Prospect | NSW | Named after the Prospect reservoir. |
| Rankin | QLD | Dame Annabelle Rankin 1908-1986, first Queensland woman elected to the Senate 1946-1971 and the first Australian woman to hold a top-level diplomatic post as High Commissioner to New Zealand 1971-1974. |
| Reid | NSW | Sir George Reid 1845-1918, one of the framers of the Constitution, Premier of New South Wales 1894-1899 and Prime Minister of Australia 1904-1905. |
| Richmond | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Riverina | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Robertson | NSW | Sir John Robertson 1816-1891, former Premier of New South Wales. |
| Ryan | QLD | Thomas Ryan 1876-1921, Premier of Queensland 1915-1919. |
| Scullin | VIC | James Scullin 1876-1953, Prime Minister of Australia 1929-1932. |
| Shortland | NSW | Naval Lieutenant John Shortland 1739-1803 who discovered coal near Newcastle. |
| Solomon | NT | Named after Vaiben Louis Solomon (1853-1908), who has been described as the Northern Territory's founding father of federation. He served as a member or Mayor of the Palmerston (original name of the Darwin settlement) District Council for 17 years and was an active member of the 1887 and 1898 Constitutional Conventions that led to the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1901, Mr Solomon was elected as one of the first Members of the House of Representatives as the member for the South Australian seat that included the Northern Territory. |
| Stirling | WA | Sir James Stirling 1791-1865, the first Governor of Western Australia. |
| Sturt | SA | Captain Charles Sturt 1795-1869, explorer. |
| Swan | WA | Swan River which was discovered and named by the Dutch explorer, Willem de Vlamingh in 1697, after the famous black swans of the area. |
| Sydney | NSW | The city of Sydney, which was named in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip after Viscount Sydney, then British Home Secretary. |
| Tangney | WA | Dame Dorothy Tangney 1911-1985, first woman member of the Australian Senate 1943-1968. |
| Throsby | NSW | Dr Charles Throsby 1771-1828, a local pioneer who explored the area. |
| Wakefield | SA | Edward Gibbon Wakefield 1796-1862, whose theories of colonisation had a great impact on the formation of settlements in Western Australia and South Australia. |
| Wannon | VIC | The Wannon River which was named by Major Mitchell in 1836. |
| Warringah | NSW | Named after the area in which it is located. |
| Watson | NSW | John Watson 1867-1941, Prime Minister of Australia 27 April-12 August 1904. |
| Wentworth | NSW | William Charles Wentworth 1790?-1872, a noted Australian explorer and statesman. He accompanied Blaxland and Lawson on their crossing of the Blue Mountains. |
| Werriwa | NSW | Aboriginal name for Lake George, which was located in the division in 1901. |
| Wide Bay | QLD | The district which takes its name from the bay sighted by Captain Cook on 18 May 1770. |
| Wills | VIC | William Wills 1834-1861, explorer and member of expedition which attempted to cross Australia in 1860-1861. |
