Perth Airport Becomes The First In The Aus’ To Include Indigenous Location Names On Boarding Displays

Perth Airport has announced today that it will become the first major Australian airport to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of destinations around Australia. Boarding gate screens will now rotate between the commonly used names of destinations along and a given place’s Traditional Custodian name.

For instance, flights to Adelaide will be displayed as Adelaide/Kaurna Country, Newman will be Newman/Nyiyaparli Country, Melbourne will be Melbounrne/Naarm Country and so on.

This initiative has been rolled out on Terminal 1 Domestic and Terminals 3 and 4, while 2 isn’t included as it has no gates within the walkways, and 1 International features a Welcome To Country for arrivals.

“Acknowledging Country demonstrates respect for Aboriginal traditional cultural practices and promotes greater appreciation and respect,” Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown said. “This is a small but meaningful step in our efforts to create a better understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal culture and traditions.”

“Reconciliation is about connections and beginning to acknowledge Country is a way to connect with the First Nations peoples of Australia in genuine and meaningful ways,” he added. “Perth Airport sits on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation which once formed part of their traditional travelling networks…

“Our airport is often the first and the last point of connection to the vibrant and unique cultural heritage of our State’s Aboriginal people, so it makes sense to recognise the Traditional Custodians of destinations for departing passengers.”

If you’d like to learn more about Perth Airport’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2021-23, head here.

Image credit: Shutterstock / Lukas Bischoff