Indigenous naming conventions 102-08010040

The name of an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has passed away is generally extremely sensitive information, and must only be asked for when it is essential for an agency's purposes. Even when this is the case, in many communities it is important that close relatives are not asked to discuss, write down, or see written down, the name of a person who has passed away. If such information becomes relevant when a close relative is being interviewed or asked to complete a form, consent should be requested to obtain the information from another source (for example, community council and/or hospital/clinic records).

It is important that this information is only requested if it is specifically required to complete the current interview/form. It should not be solicited simply for possible future reference. Questions about family members, on forms or in interviews, should be structured to ensure that the name of a person who has passed away is not being requested. One way to do this is to ask first whether a person's family members are living, before asking for their names. As a general rule, if the close relative has passed away their name should not be requested. A common reason for a change of name is that a person with the same name has passed away, and that name can no longer be used, often the term Kumunjayi or Kumanara is used until that person is allowed to use their own name again or they have taken another name.

There are sometimes legitimate reasons for requesting this information, for instance to help with confirming identity. Often it is not considered particularly sensitive, but to avoid any possible problems it should only be collected on a voluntary basis. If a person cannot or does not want to, provide their skin name, this should be allowed, and other means of sorting out identity pursued.