Before Europeans colonised Australia in 1788, the Sydney city area was occupied by the Cadigal clan of the Eora Nation. Their survival was greatly assisted by the abundance of seafood and shellfish located in and along what is now known as Sydney Harbour.

In Australia we have recently witnessed a trend towards recognising the aboriginal names of places, for example Uluru for Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta instead of the Olgas.

Around Sydney Harbour only one location retains in full its indigeneous name, that being Woolloomooloo.  Perhaps we can hope that indigenous place names will continue to expand and be used throughout the country. These names are not only musical and harmonic, they also recognise the original custodians of this land. In the Sydney city area, the Rocks was known in the Cadigal language as Talla-walla-dah and the Opera House area was known as Tjubowgule.

Australia celebrates this multiculturalism, recognising just over 220 years of European history and more than 50,000 years of aboriginal history.