The Department of Health's headquarters is to be renamed as the Yaradhang Building.
Staff at the Sirius Building were told the new name on Friday.
The department said: "Yaradhang (pronounced Yeh-rah-done) is the Ngunnawal term for "eucalyptus" a plant known for its medical and health purposes."
The renaming follows concerns from some staff that Sirius, as the name of the flagship of the First Fleet which brought the first convicts to Australia, symbolised colonialism.
The new name will replace Sirius on September 1.
The building designed for 4000 public servants was originally named after HMS Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet which brought convicts to Botany Bay in 1788.
Its arrival was the start of European colonisation (and so the start of the demise of Indigenous ways of life).
Some public servants objected to the association with colonisation via the arrival of the First Fleet. It was a "concern", a spokesperson for the agency said.
But the architect of the building said he was "disappointed" at the attempt to rename his creation.
"We cannot deny our history," architect Peter Russell said at the time the controversy of the renaming happened.
In the internal debate about renaming, there was some disparagement from former prime minister John Howard, who had expressed his annoyance in The Canberra Times. A public servant was then given a talking to after sneering at Mr Howard in an internal forum.
"The staff member has been spoken to about these comments, and directed to review the ICT Acceptable Use Policy along with the APS Values," a spokesperson for the Department of Health said.
While sexism and racism are often sackable offences in the public service, it's not clear how harshly disciplined the public servant was for his apparent ageism. He was "talked to" but the Department didn't say whether tougher action was contemplated or taken.
The minutes of a departmental meeting on February 13 said that a short list of five or six new names had been drawn up "to put to a staff vote".
"A whole-of-Health and Aged Care staff consultation process has been undertaken to seek nominations for re-naming the Sirius building to better align to the department's purpose."
It cited "the association of the current name with the First Fleet".
"165 staff nominations were received."
Health Department officials estimated that it would cost $20,000 to change the name as part of a broader "cultural shift", which would be "money well spent".
Apart from Mr Howard, the name change also drew criticism earlier in the year from Liberal senator Anne Ruston - who called it "woke". Mr Howard had branded it "pointless petulance".
The name change is part of a wider rebranding of the building. A model of HMS Sirius has been removed and given on permanent loan to the Defence department. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
The architects designed the whole building to resonate with the ship. An upper-floor meeting room juts out at exactly the same angle as the quarters on the ship's stern.
