Perth Voice Interactive

THE new name of “Warndoolier” for Banks Reserve has been approved by Landgate after a six-year effort.

The Mount Lawley reserve has long been a culturally significant site for Aboriginal people, and Vincent mayor Alison Xamon describes the renaming as a revival of the Noongar name. 

“We are proud to acknowledge and preserve the history of the reserve as it has been for many millennia,” Ms Xamon said in a press release this week.

“This is a major step towards reviving traditional names of Aboriginal areas in Vincent.”

The area was named for former Perth councillor Ronald Frederick Banks in 1963, but earlier maps from the 1900s to 1940s label the area as “Warndulier”. The exact location differs b

y source, with an early newspaper from 1833 describing the name as applying to “the northern, or main branch of the river.”

The spelling Warndoolier was endorsed by the Vincent Boordiya Reference group, the Elders who advise the council on these issues, as it led to closer phonetic pronunciation.

Warndoolier doesn’t have an exact translation to English and the words have multiple meanings in different combinations: ‘Warn’ is a digging stick, ‘dool’ is a spirit or misty fog, and ‘doolya’ means big leaves. Some interpretations see the name as referring to a place related to a woman’s spirit, or a place where spirit mist dwells.

Vincent council endorsed the name change back in February 2024, but the renaming campaign goes back to 2018 during consultation with local Elders.

There was some debate in February about whether to dual-name the area and keep the Banks moniker. From 276 responses, 154 favoured Warndoolier alone, 62 supported a dual-naming of Warndoolier/Banks Reserve, and 55 opposed any change. 

Some of Banks’ descendants were among those requesting his name be retained alongside the Noongar name, but Vincent councillors opted for the full renaming.

Signs will be updated in the coming months and a community event will be held in early 2025 to celebrate the new name, as well as the recent upgrades to the reserve like the cultural interpretation node and the footbridge across Walter’s Brook that was completed this week.

by DAVID BELL