Australia’s request to have the world’s largest sand island known globally only as K’gari has been approved.

Federal Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt said the island’s traditional name was officially associated with its global recognition as a World Heritage site during the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, in France, in July. 2025

Minister Watt said Australia made the formal request for the name change to K’gari, from Fraser Island, out of respect for the Butchulla people who had been connected to the island for more than 60,000 years.

“Stretching more than 120 kilometres along the southern coast of Queensland and covering 1840 km², the world’s largest sand island was first added to the World Heritage List as Fraser Island in December 1992,” he said. “K’gari is associated with the Butchulla people’s creation story, which explains how the island and surrounding lands were formed.”

Minister Watt added the silent ‘K’ reflected the Traditional Owners’ interpretation of spelling the place name using the English alphabet.

The World Heritage Committee recognition was in keeping with the Butchulla Traditional Owners’ wishes for the traditional name for the island to be restored and reflected the formal name change by the Queensland Government in 2023.

After European colonisation, K’gari was called Great Sandy Island, and then Fraser Island from 1842. It was named after Captain James Fraser, Master of the Stirling Castle, which was shipwrecked on Eliza Reef (Swains Reef). James Fraser died in early August 1836, after making his way to K’gari with his wife and a party of the surviving crew. The island has also been referred to as Thoorgine, or Thoorgine Island.