In short:

The seat of Frome will be renamed Ngadjuri after considerations were made about its namesake, surveyor-general Edward Charles Frome.

The Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission redrew much of the boundaries for Ngadjuri, reducing the Liberals' margin by 4.9 per cent.

What's next?

The redistribution will come into effect ahead of the next state election in 2026.

The state electorate of Frome in South Australia's mid-north has been renamed Ngadjuri ahead of the next election, after traditional owners raised concerns about its namesake, Edward Frome and his involvement in acts of retribution against Indigenous people.

The Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission's decision was unveiled as it set the final electoral boundaries for the 2026 vote.

Labor MLC Reggie Martin advocated for the renaming, based on concerns about former surveyor-general Edward Frome's involvement in acts of retribution against Aboriginal people following what is known as the "Maria Massacre".

In 1840, the Maria shipwrecked off Cape Jaffa and all 26 people on board managed to make it to shore near what is now the town of Kingston.

They received help from local Aboriginal people but were then all killed in what was described in the 2001 book Fatal Collisions as "the largest murder of Europeans by Indigenous people in Australia's colonial history".

In response, governor George Gawler sent a party led by police commissioner Major Thomas O'Halloran to the Coorong with instructions to identify up to three murderers and hang them on the spot.

The instructions and the eventual hanging of two Milmenrura men sparked debate at the time because Aboriginal people were considered British subjects, from the proclamation of South Australia as a colony in 1836, and thus deserving of a fair trial.

Historian Dr Skye Krichauff told the commission that Mr Frome was in Adelaide and did not play any role in Major O'Halloran's expedition.

"Frome was not responsible for the death of any Milmenrura or, as far as I have been able to determine, any other Aboriginal people," Dr Krichauff wrote.

He subsequently travelled to the Coorong two months after the hangings and made several sketches, including one titled "Native Village on the Coorong deserted by the Milmenrura tribe after the murder of the crew of the Maria, burnt by me, Oct. 40".

Based on Frome's admission of burning the deserted camp and his presence at a meeting where governor Gawler responded to a report on the killing of the survivors of the shipwreck, the commission found the name of Frome was unsuitable for a House of Assembly seat.

New name acknowledges traditional owners

The seat, currently held by Liberal MP Penny Pratt, is now called Ngadjuri — which means "we people".

Ngadjuri refers to the Ngadjuri people, whose traditional lands cover SA's mid-north region.

The Ngadjuri people were recognised in 2023 as native title holders to around half of the electoral district.

Ms Pratt had advocated for the district to be renamed in honour of former Liberal premier Steele Hall, who died earlier this year.

"In recognition of his strong personal connection to my Mid North farming region," Ms Pratt said in a statement.

"The Boundary Commissioner's final report has detailed the consultation process they undertook for selecting a new name and while I continue to be the Member for Frome, I look forward to a positive election result in 2026 when I can call myself the inaugural Member for Ngadjuri," she said.

Ms Pratt's margin has been reduced by 4.9 per cent in the final redistribution, with the seat of Ngadjuri extending further south and losing towns like Balaklava.

The two seats the Liberals lost in by-elections to Labor this year, Dunstan and Black, have notionally shifted slightly back to the Liberals based on the results of the 2022 vote.

However, the major swing towards the government in the by-election for Black means it is now considered a safe Labor seat.

The commission made changes to 16 of the state's 47 electoral districts, which moved nearly 39,000 voters into new seats for the 2026 vote.