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Report on Public Sector Agencies, June 2002 Part 7 - Natural Resources and Environment, (continued)
SURVEY INFORMATION AT LAND VICTORIA 7.68 Surveying, as a broad description, involves measuring distances, angles and heights to determine the relative locations of points under, on or above the earth’s surface. The information produced by surveyors is utilised by a broad range of individuals and industries, including those with involvement in the:
7.69 Many sectors of the Australian economy utilises land assets as a major resource for their operations. A significant portion of the community also has an involvement with or direct interest in real estate. In order to establish a robust market for the exchange of land assets, in which the market participants can place reliance, there needs to be an effective land registration system. The registration system provides an official record of land transactions, defining specific land assets and establishes legal rights to their ownership. 7.70 Where such a registration system exists, the business and general community are in a position to place reliance on the property market, which is underpinned by a government guarantee of title under the Torrens title system. 7.71 It should be understood that cadastral surveying is that branch of the broader discipline of land surveying that deals with surveying activities relating to property boundary definition and certain associated rights. While land surveyors are also qualified to undertake, for example engineering surveys and topographic surveys, cadastral surveying is the only branch of surveying where there is a legislative requirement to be licensed. 7.72 The cadastral surveyor’s role is to establish, determine and define land boundaries and to record this information on survey plans, which are lodged with a central land registry. In addition, cadastral surveyors define the limits or extents of the rights or restrictions on land parcels such as leases, easements, access, rights of way and common property. These are matters which impact on the use and value of land. Cadastral surveyors’ work provides the community with confidence in the correctness and accuracy of the location of property boundaries, buildings and infrastructure. 7.73 In the absence of an effective surveying function there could be an increase in disputes over ownership of specific land holdings, property boundaries, and the rights and restrictions in the use of properties. Poor quality cadastral survey information can result in costs to property holders associated with moving a building, relocating improvements or defending a lawsuit in court because of a land boundary dispute, or other dispute concerned with rights or restrictions in the property. 7.74 Although not directly a part of cadastral surveying, surveyors can also determine the height at which drainage, water and sewerage infrastructure is constructed. If these determinations are incorrect, there can be significant problems with the effective operation of this infrastructure and the properties involved could be adversely affected by flooding. 7.75 Regulation of surveying in Victoria has existed since 1860. The current regulatory system commenced on 1 January 1896, arising from recommendations of a Royal Commission in 1885. The Victorian Government has regulated the cadastral surveying profession to ensure that only competent surveyors are permitted to define land boundaries and lodge survey plans with the Government. The Government has also accepted responsibility for the delivery of cadastral surveying functions in order to maintain the integrity of land registration systems. Fundamentally, the Government’s approach to the regulation of cadastral surveying has been focussed on risk management of the cadastre. 7.76 In Victoria, the land registration system and the activities associated with it are governed by several pieces of legislation, namely the Subdivision Act 1988, Surveyors Act 1978, Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, Land Act 1958, Local Government Act 1989, Transfer of Land Act 1958 and the Property Law Act 1958. This legislation is administered by a variety of organisations, which include all local government entities, the Department of Infrastructure, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and a number of other public sector agencies. 7.77 Two of these Acts, which deal directly with land surveying are the Surveyors Act 1978 and the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958. The Surveyors Act 1978 enabled the creation of the following Regulations:
7.78 The Act and Regulations deal with such things as the training, assessment and registration of surveyors, especially cadastral surveyors, by the Surveyors Board of Victoria, and the standards and procedures required in performing and recording cadastral surveys. 7.79 The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 and the Survey Co-ordination (Surveys) Regulations 1992 deal with the co-ordination of surveying activity and information across public bodies, the establishment and maintenance of the infrastructure supporting surveying and the co-ordination of mapping across Victoria in supporting the National Mapping Scheme. 7.80 A revision of the Surveyors Act 1978, resulted in the preparation of the Land Surveying Bill 2001, which is before Parliament at the date of preparation of this report (refer to a later section of this report entitled Surveying Reform). 7.81 A number of the activities undertaken by cadastral and other land surveyors are concerned with planning and development functions. Councils, utilities and certain public sector agencies require certification from licensed cadastral surveyors of many non-boundary survey matters such as the floor level of a building, the proximity of a development to a flood prone area, alignment of vertical structures, building set-out, sewerage set-out, building floor lease area management for building owners, and expert witnesses in court. These requirements are generally not covered by legislation. 7.82 In order to understand how the functions and services that impact on surveying are spread across Land Victoria within the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE), Chart 7C which follows, details the operational responsibilities of that Business Unit, and those of the Surveyors Board of Victoria, a statutory authority chaired by the Surveyor-General. CHART 7C  Audit objectives 7.83 The objective of the audit was to assess whether the systems and procedures for the recording of survey related information in Land Victoria’s land registration system ensure that the information is accurate and reliable, and conforms with the requirements of legislation. In order to achieve this objective, we reviewed:
Conduct of the audit 7.84 To provide on-going technical assistance and advice during the audit, we engaged the services of a specialist. In undertaking the audit, a wide range of evidence gathering techniques was employed, which are outlined in detail below. 7.85 As part of the audit we conducted a survey, the major aims of which were to:
7.86 There are approximately 1 020 licensed surveyors in Victoria. However, as licences are issued for life, a considerable number of these surveyors are non-practicing members. As the audit was primarily concerned with survey information generated from cadastral surveying, it was important that the survey targeted practising licensed surveyors. 7.87 Accordingly, we decided to use the membership database of the Association of Consulting Surveyors Victoria (ACSV), as we considered that responses from its membership would provide a good representation of the views of practising surveyors. The ACSV is the peak surveying industry organisation for the private sector in Victoria, with its membership representing the majority of surveying firms in the State. Surveying firms are generally small to medium enterprises, employing between one and 20 practising surveyors, along with other technical and administrative staff. To further improve the coverage of the survey, questionnaires were also sent to a number of larger surveying organisations, which were not members of the ACSV. 7.88 The questionnaire consisted of four sections, namely “The Survey Control Network”, “Calibration”, “Ensuring the Competency of Surveyors” and the “Integrity of the Cadastre”. Of the 87 surveys sent out, 66 were completed and returned, resulting in a response rate of 78.6 per cent. 7.89 In undertaking the audit, the following techniques were also used:
Key aspects of surveying arrangements and records 7.90 In order to gain an understanding of the functions performed by the cadastral surveying profession, the information generated by surveyors and the equipment used, the following information is provided. Cadastral surveying 7.91 Cadastral surveying involves the determination, and recording of property boundaries. In addition, cadastral surveyors define the limit or extent of the rights or restrictions on land parcels such as easements, access, rights of way and common property. These matters impact on the value and the use of land. 7.92 Cadastral surveys are used to re-establish the boundaries of previously surveyed properties or to establish the boundaries of newly sub-divided land in order to establish ownership and to facilitate the transfer of property title. Establishing title boundaries or 7.93 The majority of cadastral surveys are concerned with re-establishing or determining title boundaries and the extent of related rights and restrictions in land, and relating their position to fences and other forms of occupation. This process typically requires the surveyor in the field to compute distances and relationships between survey features, which provide evidence about the location of title boundaries. Traditionally, the surveyor’s work has involved determining the property boundaries by undertaking distance and angular measurements to and from existing survey marks, physical features such as rivers and coastlines and evidence of occupation such as fences, walls and buildings. In determining the location of boundaries, the surveyor must give due regard to the boundaries of adjoining properties and road alignments. 7.94 Cadastral surveying work also includes the marking of new boundaries for large subdivisions and the connection of the survey to the survey control network. For some larger subdivisions, it may first be necessary to undertake a control survey. This involves locating and/or creating sufficient control points, with height and horizontal co-ordinates, to establish a network of points (refer to a later section of this report entitled survey control network). This network of control points can then be used to determine property boundaries. 7.95 In Victoria, there are approximately 800 000 dealings each year in relation to registration and interests in land. Of these, approximately 10 000 represent cadastral surveys and other matters prepared by cadastral surveyors. Most of the 800 000 dealings would be associated with changes in ownership.
Land Victoria staff conducting a survey. The cadastre 7.96 The public register used to document the official record of land holdings and related interests, including a definition of boundaries is called a cadastre. The cadastre can contain some or all of the following information:
7.97 In Victoria, the cadastre is not a single database but a collection of public registers and records, which contain information on land ownership, land tenure and value, and a geometric description of land parcels. The information contained in the cadastre supports the Government’s land tenure and taxation policies, and provides security of title by maintaining an accurate record of registered interests in land, which underpins the Government’s guarantee of land title. 7.98 The data contained within the cadastre can also be described as a form of geospatial information. Geospatial information 7.99 One of the functions of the Department is to gather, store and make available to the community, geospatial information describing the location of an object and other information that can be linked to its location. The collection, storage and dissemination of geospatial data is a multi-billion dollar industry, representing one of the world’s growth industries. Cadastral survey information is a significant component of geospatial information. 7.100 Geospatial data is fundamental to many human activities and functions, including the provision of essential services such as gas, power and water, asset management and provision of emergency services. The accuracy requirements of users of this data varies with some users needing only a broad reference to location, like a street address, while other organisations such as gas, power and water utilities require accuracy of 15 centimetres. Cadastral surveyors require accuracy in accordance with the requirements of the Cadastral Surveying Regulations which ranges from a centimetre to a decimetre, relative to the specific topography. 7.101 The primary challenge for the DNRE in the provision of geospatial information is to ensure that the data collected:
7.102 In order to gather information describing the location of objects, there needs to be a common, reliable and accurate framework to which all locations are referenced. In Victoria, this framework is known as the survey control network. 7.103 It should be noted that in order to undertake a cadastral survey, there is no practical need for surveyors to connect their surveys to the survey control network, as cadastral surveys rely on local evidence and information for their own particular purposes. Survey control network 7.104 In order to establish a geographically referenced survey control network, there needs to be a system in place to determine co-ordinates for positions on the earth’s surface. Each country has independently established its own co-ordinate system which in Australia, up until 1994, was known as the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66). This 7.105 However, with the adoption of the Global Positioning System, (refer following section of this Report) it became appropriate to adopt a common worldwide co-ordination system. In Australia, this common co-ordination system is known as the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94). This new datum forms the basis for the Map Grid of Australia (MGA), which was established on 1 January 2000. The difference between the co-ordinates of a point in the MGA compared with AMG is about 200 metres. 7.106 The survey control network is a State-wide network comprising approximately 137 000 physical ground marks, of which approximately 40 000 have AMG co-ordinates and approximately 23 000 have MGA co-ordinates determined. In addition, there are also 6 300 Primary Cadastral Marks, which are placed by cadastral surveyors in accordance with the requirements of the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 1992. There are two components to the network, a horizontal survey network and a levelling network. The horizontal survey network is used to establish horizontal control and the levelling network is used to determine height. In the survey control network there is information available for up to 65 000 marks that have height values in accordance with the Australian Height Datum (AHD). 7.107 The survey control network provides the essential positioning framework for mapping, infrastructure, environment and resource management for the State although, as mentioned previously, cadastral surveys for land development and other purposes are not dependent on this framework. 7.108 Complementing the survey control network are 15 Global Positioning System base stations, which have been established by Land Victoria in conjunction with other bodies since 1996. Global Positioning System (GPS) 7.109 The advent of satellite positioning systems has revolutionised the positioning industry and impacted on the way in which surveyors undertake their work. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide satellite based radio navigation system developed by the U.S Department of Defence. The constellation of satellites, which currently comprises 29 operational satellites, blanket the globe with their transmission of standardised messages which are to establish the location of an object in time and space on or above the earths surface. 7.110 GPS is used in a wide variety of sectors including agriculture, forestry, fishing, construction, defence, emergency services, mining, surveying and mapping. In practice, a receiver is used to calculate its position in time and space using signals provided by four or more satellites. 7.111 In its simplest form, a hand held GPS receiver can be used to calculate the position of the operator in time and space using signals provided by 4 or more satellites. The accuracy of the position determined using the hand held receiver is within plus or minus 15 metres horizontally and plus or minus 30 metres vertically. For applications requiring a higher degree of accuracy, such as cadastral surveying, either connection to a geodetic network of GPS base stations or the use of at least two survey grade GPS receivers is required. 7.112 In Victoria, GPSnet is the system used to continuously record, store, validate and disseminate information received from the constellation of satellites, through a network of public access GPS base stations. Land Victoria, is planning to develop 20 GPS base stations across Victoria by June 2002. There are currently 15 base stations in operation. 7.113 GPS provides a powerful surveying and mapping tool for the collection of position information. It provides a fast method of linking to the survey control network, which in turn can reduce the time taken to connect property boundaries to geodetic control when dealing with distances exceeding 2 kilometres. However, based on our enquiries, it appears that although GPS is very useful in a number of circumstances, it does not replace the need for a ground marked survey control network. 7.114 As indicated earlier, a cadastral survey involves surveyors re-establishing title boundaries and relating their position to fences, walls and buildings, and marking new boundaries and connecting to the survey control network. For re-establishing boundaries, GPS techniques are not ideal for occupation pick-up, and are inadequate to observe occupation close to or part of buildings or garden shrubbery. A review undertaken by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 2000, suggested that as much as half of metropolitan Melbourne is unsuited to GPS observation due to buildings, trees and shrubs obstructing the signal. However, GPS is generally a suitable mechanism to use in survey control connection for cadastral surveys and where the surveyor is establishing survey control for larger developments. 7.115 Other factors impacting on the surveying industries use of GPS include the cost of equipment and the accuracy of the GPS. 7.116 With a basic single-frequency survey GPS unit costing around $20 000, and a dual-frequency unit costing $40 000, with software and other assorted equipment costing around a further $20 000, the overall cost is a significant barrier to the increased use of GPS. This compares with conventional survey equipment which costs about $20 000. The cost of GPS equipment providing the accuracy of measurement required by surveyors has been fairly static over the last couple of years, unlike GPS equipment providing a lower level of accuracy, which has been targeted at the “consumer” market. 7.117 A further impediment to the use of GPS is the accuracy of the system. The accuracy requirement for “length of line” in cadastral surveying is currently 10 millimetres plus 60 parts per million (ppm). To determine the length of a line from GPS measurements, the distance must be derived from the co-ordinates of the positions at the ends of the line. As such, for lines of less than 1 500 metres, it is unlikely that GPS can be used to derive a distance that satisfies the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 1995. Similarly, to derive the bearing of a short line for cadastral purposes, unsatisfactory results may be achieved. 7.118 Land Victoria claims that horizontal accuracy levels of plus or minus 5 millimetres plus 1 ppm and vertical accuracy levels of plus or minus 15 millimetres plus 2 ppm can be reached using GPS if certain techniques and procedures are adopted. These techniques can be costly and time consuming and are probably more suited to large projects. Audit findings 7.119 The remainder of this section of this report provides detailed observations and findings resulting from the audit relating to survey information at Land Victoria. Usage of GPS 7.120 Land Victoria has suggested that ‘traditional’ cadastral surveying techniques such as total station traversing using electronic distance measuring equipment (see earlier section in the report entitled Cadastral Surveying) are being replaced by the use of GPS. It has been further suggested that the GPS network will over time replace the traditional survey control network. In order to assess the validity of this claim audit requested cadastral surveyors to indicate the proportion of their work, which involves the use of GPS. The responses to this survey question are depicted in Chart 7D, which follows. CHART 7D  Source: Victorian Auditor-General’s Office – Summary of Survey Responses. 7.121 From the Chart it can be seen that 59 of the 66 respondents (96 per cent) indicated that they use traditional surveying techniques for three quarters or more of their surveying work. Although GPS may become a widely adopted tool used by surveyors in the future, the results from the questionnaire indicate that at present only a small part of a cadastral surveyors business involves the use of GPS. 7.122 Cadastral surveying uses either a combination of GPS and traditional methods, or traditional methods alone. However, total station traversing or traditional surveying techniques remain the dominant technique to undertake both types of surveys described above. 7.123 A significant shift in the usage of GPS equipment is not expected until new equipment can integrate GPS with total station traversing equipment and costs are moderated. Such equipment is still under development. 7.124 There is also a problem with the use of GPS equipment, which impacts on the legal traceability of survey measurements, where it is used to directly establish or re-establish property boundaries. The Surveyors Board of Victoria is currently developing guidelines to address this issue. Survey control connection - legislative requirements 7.125 Regulation 10 of the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 1995, requires a licensed surveyor making a cadastral survey to:
7.126 The purpose of the regulation is to outline the circumstances in which the surveyor must connect the survey undertaken to the survey control network. The survey connection process involves surveyors:
7.127 The above reference to “unless the conversion cannot be practically achieved” is clarified in the Surveyor-General’s Survey Practice Circular August 1995 (Revised April 2000). The circular states that for cadastral surveys of 10 lots or more, co-ordinate connection is mandatory. If co-ordinated marks are not available within one kilometre or three survey instrument set-ups, the Surveyor-General undertakes to provide co-ordinated marks within one kilometre of the survey. For cadastral surveys of less than ten lots, survey control connection is required if marks exist within 500 metres or 3 survey instrument 7.128 In assessing the need for survey control connection, a factor that must be considered is that the Victorian cadastre was not historically based on co-ordinated survey control references (boundaries referenced to marks with known co-ordinates) and at the date of preparation of this report largely exists and functions without the need for survey control references. Cadastral boundaries in Victoria are primarily defined by dimension and relationship to local monuments and occupation, rather than their relationship to marks with known co-ordinates. Therefore, most cadastral surveys can be undertaken without geodetic connection. However, there is a legislative requirement in certain circumstances for geodetic connection to occur. 7.129 Where surveyors do connect to the survey control network, the impact is two-fold. First, they do not generally directly benefit from the connection and secondly, it requires them to undertake additional work and incur additional costs, which their clients are often unwilling to pay. 7.130 The main benefit of the connection of cadastral surveys to the survey control network is the provision of co-ordinate information to the VicMap Digital Property (VDP), the State’s digital cadastral mapbase. This then benefit users of information contained within VDP. The information in cadastral surveys which creates new land boundaries (sub-divisions) needs to be integrated into VDP to maintain its currency and legitimacy as a complete record of land parcels. The connection of surveys to an accurate, consistent survey control referencing system and the integration of precise cadastral survey information into VDP would allow the spatial accuracy of VDP to be improved. Upgrading VDP potentially could result in a broadening of its application and could increase the benefits which can be derived from it. These benefits include the attraction of additional users who have a requirement for a more spatially accurate and/or complete map base. (refer to a later section of this report entitled VicMap Digital). 7.131 In 2000, the Surveyor-General engaged RMIT to review the effectiveness of the survey control network. The review used a questionnaire, focus groups, discussions with Land Victoria staff and a literature search. The review disclosed a high level of
7.132 Where adequate survey control marks do not exist in close proximity to the location of large surveys, Land Victoria offers to establish such survey control marks. However, surveyors have reported considerable time delays in Land Victoria providing this service, which adversely impacts on the time taken for surveyors to complete their survey work. Discussions with Land Victoria indicated that very few requests to establish survey marks are received from surveyors, but when requests are received, this service is provided in a timely fashion. 7.133 The RMIT report recommended that:
7.134 Subsequent to that report, the Surveyor-General issued a practice directive which withdrew the requirement for surveyors to connect to the survey control network for Maintaining and upgrading survey marks 7.135 Under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of the permanent marks and the survey control network is the joint responsibility of the Surveyor-General and departments and public authorities involved in undertaking surveys. This network of survey marks provides a system to which the position of properties or objects can be referenced. Since 1945, the Surveyor-General, along with other utilities, has maintained the survey control network. In 1998, the operational maintenance function within Land Victoria was transferred to the Land Information Group. 7.136 The survey control network consists of survey marks that either:
7.137 The geodetic network, described earlier in this report, is a subset of the survey control network and represents those survey marks with established co-ordinates. 7.138 In order for the survey control network to be effective for surveying purposes, its usefulness is dependent on:
7.139 Maintaining the network has 2 components, physical maintaining the survey marks in the field, and upgrading the coordinates, level or other information in respect to these marks (refer to a later section in this report entitled Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES)). 7.140 The RMIT review estimated that:
7.141 There are also issues relating to vertical control marks (height), particularly with the lack of maintenance and replacement of marks destroyed. These marks are more widely used by:
7.142 However, the survey control network connection for height is not a requirement of the current practice directive and is not required in relation to the update or upgrade of the VicMap Digital Property. Nevertheless, the Victorian cadastre is inherently three-dimensional and there is a requirement in some cadastral legislation, planning processes and the approval process of sub-divisions by Councils and utility companies for a licensed surveyor to provide heights related to the Australian Height Datum (AHD). 7.143 As indicated previously, the Land Information Group has operational responsibility for the maintenance of the survey control network. In its Geospatial Information Strategy, it is stated: “…Geodetic Control Networks will move from physical ground control points to GPS…” However, for cadastral surveying purposes, GPS can only replace the current survey control network when utilisation of GPS is more widespread in the surveying industry. At what point in time the industry moves to GPSnet (GPS based control network) depends on the development of additional functionality for this network, and further technology developments in GPS equipment and reductions in the cost of this equipment. However, there are other GPS networks able to be accessed, and as such, there does not necessarily need to be a complete reliance on GPSnet. 7.144 However, as indicated earlier in this report, the need to maintain survey marks for use by cadastral surveyors in re-establishing property boundaries is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. 7.145 The requirements under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 and the accompanying regulations to connect to the survey control network in Proclaimed Survey Areas (PSA) are predicated on the ready availability of survey marks in PSAs. The RMIT review found that surveyors consider these requirements to be quite practicable and reasonable for larger surveys where adequate ground marks exist. However, the lack of an on-going maintenance program means that an adequate density of marks cannot be guaranteed in PSAs and therefore there is no rationale for distinguishing PSAs from other survey areas. The crucial criteria for survey control network connection is the availability of adequate survey marks or alternative technology to allow the connection to occur without undue economic burden on the cadastral surveyor whether or not in a PSA. Condition of survey marks 7.146 In 1996, the former Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works undertook a review of survey marks and found that 30 per cent of the 3 500 marks existing at that time were missing or were recorded as such in SMES. On the basis of this statistic and responses to the audit questionnaire, it is highly likely that at least 10 to 20 per cent of registered marks shown as available in SMES are in fact missing on the ground. In addition, the frequency of sketch plans with ties shown which are out of date is between 10 per cent and 30 per cent according to 71 per cent of the questionnaire respondents. 7.147 Destruction and damage to survey marks is an unavoidable consequence of a ground mark based control system. Therefore, in order for the network to be effective, there needs to be processes in place to monitor the existence and condition of all marks and a structured maintenance program to replace or repair destroyed or damaged marks. 7.148 In order to determine the adequacy of the current survey control network and to assess the performance of Land Victoria in maintaining the network, information was also gathered by audit on the survey control networks of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. The information collected included the total land parcels in the State, total number of marks, quality of the marks, the quantity of marks subject to physical maintenance, new marks installed by the relevant departments and marks planned to be subject to physical maintenance in 2001-02. The data obtained is outlined in Table 7E, which follows. TABLE 7E
(a) 120 estimate relates to marks subject to physical maintenance by the Department. No information could be provided on the level of maintenance by the private sector. 7.149 From the above table, it can be seen that:
7.150 In Victoria, surveyors have indicated that the density of marks is generally reasonable in regional towns and cities but is not adequate in many rural areas and in some metropolitan areas of Melbourne. 7.151 While the physical maintenance program in Land Victoria is limited, it should be noted that the information on the co-ordinates or elevations of more than 4 400 marks were upgraded (in SMES) in 2000-01. This figure is set to rise to 20 500 in 2001-02, with the placement of the GDA 94 co-ordinates in SMES (refer to a later section in this report entitled Survey Marks Enquiry Service). Connection to the survey control network 7.152 The audit questionnaire was used to gather information on the survey control network, including:
7.153 In order to assess the usefulness of the survey control network, it was necessary to determine the proportion of a cadastral surveyors’ business that utilised the survey control network. To do this, surveyors were asked in the audit questionnaire to indicate the percentage of their work which involved connecting to the survey control network. 7.154 Responses to the questionnaire indicated that almost all respondents (92 per cent) connect half or more of their surveys to the survey control network for either horizontal and height connection, or both. Furthermore, almost half of the respondents connected three out of every four surveys to horizontal control points and 77 per cent connected three out of every four surveys to vertical control points within the survey control network. These responses indicate that a large part of a cadastral surveyor’s activities involve connecting surveys to the control network and as a result, the adequacy of the survey control network becomes critical to those activities. Standard of survey marks 7.155 In order to assess the adequacy of the survey control network, surveyors were asked to indicate the percentage of cadastral surveys that were not connected to the survey control network due to the unavailability of survey marks and asked to assess the adequacy of maintenance of ground marks. 7.156 The responses to the audit questionnaire indicated that of the surveys required to be connected to the survey control network:
7.157 Furthermore, 80 per cent of respondents, indicated that they consider the maintenance of the ground marks to be either “not satisfactory” or “poor” as disclosed in Chart 7F. CHART 7F  Source: Victorian Auditor-General’s Office – Summary of survey results. Performance of Land Victoria 7.158 Our questionnaire also asked surveyors to assess Land Victoria’s overall performance in managing and maintaining the survey control network. In response to this question 69 per cent of surveyors indicated that the Land Victoria’s performance was “not satisfactory” or “poor”. The result of this aspect of the survey is disclosed in Chart 7G. CHART 7G  Source: Victorian Auditor-General’s Office – Summary of Survey Results. 7.159 The above responses to our questionnaire indicate a level of dissatisfaction with Land Victoria’s maintenance of the survey control network. 7.160 Land Victoria, in co-operation with the Surveyor-General and the Surveyors Board of Victoria, should further consult with cadastral surveyors and, if deemed appropriate, develop a strategic plan for the maintenance and upgrading of the survey control network, including the replacement of damaged marks and the establishment of new marks in strategic areas. The consultation should also include other public sector agencies that are involved in the use of the survey control network. Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) 7.161 As indicated earlier in this report, cadastral surveyors are required by regulation to connect their cadastral surveys to the State’s survey control network. In order for cadastral surveyors to undertake this requirement, they need access to information on the location and co-ordinates of survey control marks. In Victoria, the name of the system that stores and manages the State’s survey mark information is the SMES. Other states and territories of Australia and New Zealand maintain similar systems. 7.162 Prior to the establishment of SMES, the primary method of obtaining current information about survey marks was to telephone or visit a range of Government agencies, which held information regarding survey marks. In 1996, Land Victoria converted all of its survey mark information to electronic form to provide an “on line” access for users to log onto and retrieve survey information with minimal delay. This process centralised and standardised (as far as possible) the data from State Government agencies. 7.163 The current system provides users with the ability to access information on approximately 146 000 survey marks as well as property maps held on the State's cadastral map base, VicMap Digital Property. Information on the placement, destruction and suitability of marks across Victoria is available via the SMES database, which is accessed by a software interface available to industry and the community through the Internet. 7.164 The survey mark data held by SMES comprises all the recorded textual attributes for each survey mark (current and historical co-ordinates, mark name and numbers, scale factors, data and alternative mark names) and the marks sketch plans (locational diagrams). Completeness and accuracy of information in SMES 7.165 For SMES to be of use to cadastral surveyors and other users, the database needs to be a complete record of all of the co-ordinated survey marks and the information recorded should, as far as possible, represent the actual condition of the marks. 7.166 Access to information recorded in SMES is critical to the work undertaken by cadastral surveyors. The time taken to complete a survey and the costs of cadastral surveying services are adversely affected where survey marks recorded in SMES are damaged, missing or unsuitable. 7.167 In order to assess the accuracy and completeness of the information in SMES, surveyors were asked to respond to a series of questions by audit. As these same questions were asked in the RMIT review, the results of the two questionnaires were compared to determine whether the quality of information in SMES was changing over time. 7.168 Surveyors were asked the following questions:
7.169 The responses to the questions indicated that:
7.170 In 2001, the RMIT review asked the same questions regarding SMES. Responses to the RMIT survey indicated that:
7.171 The responses to the two surveys support the view that the information recorded in SMES is not always accurate in reflecting the changes to the condition of survey marks. We recommend that Land Victoria undertake a physical review of survey marks over an established timeframe to determine the accuracy of the information contained in SMES. Feedback from surveyors 7.172 A major factor impacting on the accuracy and usefulness of the information in SMES is the regular feedback provided by users of SMES. Due to the significant costs associated with Land Victoria directly monitoring the condition of the survey marks to update the information recorded in SMES, it relies on the surveying industry to provide this information. In order to determine the level of feedback provided by surveyors to Land Victoria, audit asked surveyors whether:
7.173 In answering the questionnaire a little more than half, or 55 per cent, of respondents indicated that they do not provide regular feedback to Land Victoria to update SMES. When asked to indicate why they had not provided feedback to Land Victoria, around 40 per cent indicated time and/or costs restraint as the reasons for not providing feedback. Eight respondents indicated that the Department does not utilise the information provided, with a further three respondents indicating that SMES was not user friendly. 7.174 The problem with surveyors not providing feedback was also identified in the RMIT review, which indicated that the major control over the quality of information in SMES is the on-going feedback provided by the users of this information. The review also made the following observations:
7.175 From the above analysis, it is clear that surveyors are not meeting their responsibility to provide feedback to Land Victoria on the condition of survey marks. We consider that Land Victoria should take action to ensure that surveyors provide this feedback. Initiatives Land Victoria could consider include:
Information held by other parties 7.176 A number of water authorities, gas and power companies and other entities such as VicRoads and Local Government bodies have staff who undertake surveying functions and generate survey information. 7.177 The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 requires these entities to make available all their survey information to DNRE. This is an area which appears to have suffered in the deregulation process. Most of these entities now contract out all survey work, but there is no mechanism to ensure that this reporting requirement is being met. Furthermore, it appears that there is a lack of awareness within these organisations of their duty to provide information to Land Victoria. The Surveyor-General should remind Local Government bodies, utilities and construction contractors of their responsibilities for placing, registering and notifying of destruction of survey marks. 7.178 We reiterate our previous recommendation that action be taken by Land Victoria to ensure that the industry, including government agencies are made aware of their obligations under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958. Updating SMES with surveyor provided information 7.179 Feedback from surveyors is necessary but not sufficient to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information recorded in the SMES. For the SMES to be an accurate reflection of the physical survey marks in the field, Land Victoria must also use the information supplied by surveyors to update the SMES. 7.180 Our audit questionnaire contained 2 questions designed to assess Land Victoria’s performance in updating the SMES, from information provided by surveyors and to determine the standard of service provided by Land Victoria with regard to the provision of survey mark information. Chart 7H, which follows, outlines the results of our survey. CHART 7H  Source: Victorian Auditor-General’s Office –Summary of survey results. 7.181 The responses to the audit survey indicate that:
7.182 While the above outcomes indicate a level of satisfaction with Land Victoria’s performance in maintaining the SMES, they also indicate scope for improvement. 7.183 The RMIT review also found that Land Victoria’s process of extracting feedback from Surveyor's Reports to update the information contained in SMES was deficient and needed to be addressed. 7.184 Land Victoria has as one of its performance indicators to update SMES from information provided by surveyors within ten working days of notification. The survey results indicate a need for greater attention in this area. Integrity of survey information in the cadastre 7.185 In order to assess the quality of the survey information included in the cadastre, we obtained feedback from surveyors via the audit survey. Surveyors were asked, “Keeping in mind the purposes for which it is used, overall, how would you rate the quality of the following cadastral information currently recorded by Land Victoria?” 7.186 Respondents were asked to rate the completeness and accuracy of three components of the survey information in the cadastre, namely primary cadastral marks (PCMs), VicMap Digital Property (VDP), and survey plans. 7.187 In assessing the responses to this part of our survey, we considered that an acceptable outcome is where 75 per cent or more of respondents have rated the quality of the information as satisfactory or excellent. On this basis, as shown in Chart 7I, the accuracy of the PCMs, and the completeness of VDP and the survey plans were considered by surveyors to be acceptable. However, there appeared to be room for some improvement in relation to the completeness of information on PCMs and the accuracy of information on VDP and survey plans. CHART 7I  Source: Victorian Auditor-General’s Office –Summary of Survey Results. 7.188 The questionnaire also asked surveyors to “Rate the ease of access to cadastral information in Land Victoria” dealing with PCMs, VDP and survey plans and field notes. 7.189 In answering this question, 75 per cent of respondents considered their ease of access to cadastral information on PCMs, VDP and Land Registry survey plans and field notes to be either satisfactory or excellent.  A licensed surveyor undertaking a cadastral survey. VicMap Digital 7.190 VicMap Digital, is a State-wide computerised dataset, forming a spatial index to the cadastre, combining spatial data such as:
7.191 The dataset provides information, which can be used for the administration of many State and Local Government functions, provision of utility infrastructure and asset mapping. VicMap Digital is available free of charge to licensed cadastral surveyors. 7.192 In Victoria, properties within 32 km of the Melbourne central business district were originally mapped by the former Metropolitan Board of Works (now Melbourne Water). This mapbase focussed on rateable properties only. Outside of metropolitan area, the Surveyor-General (and later Surveying and Mapping Victoria), had responsibility for mapping. 7.193 As these maps were generated by different organisations for different purposes, they had different scales, and consequently different levels of spatial accuracy. For example, Metropolitan Melbourne was mapped at a scale of 1 to 500, regional towns at a scale of 1 to 2 500 and rural areas at a scale of 1 to 25 000. 7.194 In 1994, Melbourne Water agreed to transfer responsibility for the metropolitan mapbase to the Office of Geographic Data Co-ordination, which eventually became the Land Information Group within Land Victoria. 7.195 The current VDP database, comprising about 2.4 million parcels of land, was developed during the 1990s by digitising (converting to electronic format) the existing Victorian paper maps. Where all the lines are digitised precisely, the accuracy of the digital maps is dependent on the scale of the original paper map. This implies that those parts of the mapbase that were originally portrayed on a scale of 1 to 500 (metropolitan areas) are accurate to half a metre, those on a scale of 1 to 2 500 (urban areas) are accurate to 2.5 metres and those on a scale of 1 to 25 000 (rural areas) are accurate to 25 metres. Where the lines were not digitised precisely, the size of the inaccuracies increases. 7.196 VicMap is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the cadastre. In reality, VicMap is effectively a digital map index, a subset of the cadastre. VicMap consists of a base map with 8 information overlays. The overlays provide information on:
7.197 In addition to the maps, there is narrative information regarding each property, known as property attributes. These attributes include property addresses and lot numbers. An external party providing contracted services to the Land Information Group, maintains and upgrades VDP. 7.198 Users of VDP include government departments, local government, private sector organisations, utilities, educational institutes and the surveying profession. The mapbase and associated attributes are provided to these organisations, who are able to add their own attributes to their copy of the mapbase. For example, a local council may add details of council rates or other information attributes in their copy of the mapbase. Generally users have to pay a licence fee to access VDP, however in some cases this fee is waived. 7.199 It is envisaged that, progressively, as users of VicMap attach their own datasets to their copies of VicMap, they will be able to access information on a property or area on a map which could include:
Completeness and accuracy of VicMap Digital Property 7.200 The completeness of property and attribute details maintained within VDP are of varying quality, with Land Victoria estimating the accuracy to range from 45 to 99 per cent in rural areas, and from 90 to 99 per cent in the metropolitan areas of Melbourne. The overall quality is estimated to be 90 per cent or better. Again, the original paper maps from which VicMap was created were more comprehensive in the metropolitan areas of Melbourne, with the maps becoming less complete in regional and rural areas. Nevertheless, the maps were brought together and digitised as a base, which provides Land Victoria with a facility to develop a more accurate and complete mapping system. 7.201 Survey information generated by cadastral surveyors is one of the main mechanisms of providing VDP with high quality data to improve the spatial accuracy and completeness of the database. This process involves cadastral surveyors connecting their surveys to the survey control network and then providing property information to the Department through the registration of cadastral surveys. As such, the component of the cadastre which benefits most from the geodetic connection of surveys is VDP. The mapbase relies on the geodetic framework to provide a seamless representation of the relative and absolute position of properties in the State. 7.202 Users of VDP have different requirements in respect of the spatial accuracy of information in the database and the completeness and accuracy of property related information. Some users, such as the real estate industry or marketing firms, require property attributes to be accurate, but are less concerned with the precision of property boundary definition. Other users, such as surveyors, require a high degree of precision in respect of spatial information and a complete database of all properties, but are less interested in property attributes. However, users such as water authorities require a reasonable degree of spatial accuracy and for the mapbase to include all rateable properties. Discussions with a number of utilities indicated that they would prefer spatial accuracies of about 15 centimetres to find their pipes. 7.203 There has been considerable debate within the surveying industry over whether the Department should concentrate on improving the precision of spatial information or the accuracy and completeness of property attributes. 7.204 Although there is recognition within the Land Victoria geodetic strategy of the need to improve the precision of spatial information contained in VicMap, Land Victoria has not detailed the level of precision required. In fact, there has been little public debate regarding the costs and benefits of a survey accurate mapbase. This is not to suggest that VicMap should be survey accurate, but the level of precision required by Land Victoria should be expressly conveyed to users of VicMap and support provided for the standard chosen. 7.205 Surveyors believe that if they are required to connect to the survey control network that Land Victoria should use the information provided by them to improve the spatial accuracy of the information held in VicMap. In the metropolitan area and some of the regional centres, VicMap is currently at a spatial accuracy level of about 0.5 metres. In rural areas, the spatial accuracy level decreases to up to 50 metres. Many in the industry consider that the Land Information Group is more concerned with the accuracy and completeness of property attributes than spatial accuracy. 7.206 The Queensland Department of Natural Resources has identified the following 5 levels of development for the accuracy of spatial infrastructure in its equivalent of VicMap:
7.207 The lowest level of development is a digitised map base, with the highest level of development being a legally co-ordinated cadastre. A large part of VicMap is currently at the lowest level of development, that is a digitised map base, although much of the Melbourne Metropolitan Area and regional centres are at a slightly higher level of development, that is an upgraded mapbase. If the spatial accuracy of VicMap was taken to the highest level outlined above, that is to the level of legally co-ordinated cadastre, VicMap would be spatially accurate to the level of current cadastral regulations, that is within 15 millimetres plus 100 parts per million. 7.208 New Zealand, as part of its Landonline project, is converting all databases into a series of lines defined by control points, bearings and distances that were recorded on original land titles. This is instead of lines defined by a person’s digitising skills and the scale of the map from which the lines were digitised. However, this is an expensive exercise with the cost to convert New Zealand maps costing around NZ $12 million. 7.209 Updating the precision of spatial information is not a simple matter given the cost and associated difficulties involved, particularly in the less accurate and complete parts of the mapbase. For example, upon receipt of a cadastral survey from a rural area, which have accuracies of say a centimetre, it is often not possible to upgrade the map, because the accuracy of the data base in that area might be as low as 50 metres. If the maps are thought of as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, with pieces all made to the same level of accuracy, then they will fit neatly together. However, if some newly introduced pieces are of a higher level of accuracy than the existing pieces, then they will not match. 7.210 Although some in the surveying industry advocate a survey accurate mapbase, it is difficult to identify all the specific benefits to be generated from this course of action. Having said this, the 2 clear benefits from increasing the precision of spatial information are to:
7.211 It should also be kept in mind that, although a survey accurate mapbase would be appealing to a number of users, any benefits derived would have to be weighed up against the cost of improving the accuracy of the mapbase. 7.212 Although the Department has an internal objective of updating VicMap within 10 days of receipt of a survey plan, the current practise is quite different. At present Land Victoria records the co-ordinates of the newly completed surveys and waits until there is enough survey work done in an area to be able to update a larger part of the mapbase. In some areas this could take a considerable amount of time. 7.213 From our analysis of the responses received to our audit questionnaire and other discussions with surveyors, it is apparent that many surveyors are unhappy with this strategy. They believe that it is inappropriate for the Department to direct surveyors to connect their surveys to the survey control network, which takes additional time and adds to their costs, when the Department does not utilise the information provided to immediately update the mapbase. The wait-and-update approach is also problematic for utilities. While they wait for Land Victoria to update the existing mapbase, their surveyed infrastructure is misaligned with the property boundaries on VicMap. 7.214 One of the main objectives of developing VicMap was to prevent the situation where different organisations, both private and public, were maintaining separate databases of property and property related information for their businesses. Land Victoria has generally been successful in achieving this objective. However, as the accuracy of spatial data and the completeness of the mapbase itself is not sufficient to meet the needs of all users, such as some water authorities and VicRoads, these organisations have retained their own mapbases. 7.215 In summary, VicMap is a useful and progressive product which, as it develops will provide an easily accessible “one-stop shop” for a wide range of property and property related information. However, to maximise the benefit from its use, Land Victoria needs to:
Auditing of surveys 7.216 Every year, Victoria’s 500 registered surveyors lodge around 10 200 cadastral surveys with Land Victoria, consisting of approximately 9 000 plans of freehold subdivisions, 1 000 freehold applications and approximately 200 Crown surveys. 7.217 Prior to 1980, the Land Registry review process involved a comprehensive examination of both the mathematical accuracy and the legal validity of the survey information submitted for registration to that Office. Following reviews undertaken by that Office of survey information submitted, problems such as non-compliance with the regulations, incorrect measurement and omissions were conveyed back to the surveyors for correction. As there were no financial penalties incurred by cadastral surveyors who failed to comply with the regulations or provided inaccurate cadastral survey information, surveyors often used Land Registry as their primary means of quality assurance. 7.218 Since 1980, downsizing in Land Registry has led to a significant reduction in the level of review of lodged cadastral surveys undertaken by Land Registry, with greater reliance placed on the competence and integrity of surveyors to ensure the adequacy of cadastral survey information. When surveyors register these surveys with Land Registry, the documents are subject to a quality assurance review by the Title Registration Service (TRS) within Land Registry before they are registered. Currently the review of freehold surveys involves a cursory level of checking, consisting of an examination of plan details and legal implications, with limited verification of mathematics or boundary re-establishment. 7.219 As indicated earlier in this report, the policy of shifting responsibility for the quality of survey information back to cadastral surveyors has been reflected in the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 1995. The Regulations require surveyors to be responsible for meeting minimum quality standards in preparing their cadastral surveys for submission to Land Registry. Therefore between 1980 and 1995, while all plans were still examined prior to their incorporation into the cadastre, the level of checking was significantly less than in the preceding period. In addition, little work was undertaken by departmental staff to assess the quality of the survey information presented to Land Victoria after lodgement. 7.220 The effectiveness of this strategy was dependent on the quality of the assurance mechanisms operating within the cadastral surveying profession to ensure the competence and technical capability of surveyors. However, these mechanisms were not in place at that time. It was not until much later when the Department was developing its Land Surveying Bill 2001, that it started to address these deficiencies. In the absence of these quality assurance mechanisms, the reduced level of departmental review is likely to have increased the risk of undetected errors in the survey information recorded in the cadastre. Current audit process 7.221 In 1995, following an assessment of the arrangements in place at that time, the Surveyor-General considered that there were insufficient internal controls in place to ensure that the integrity of the cadastre would not be compromised by errors made in cadastral surveys. In order to address this problem, a quality assurance program was introduced, which had the following objectives:
7.222 The auditing process incorporated within this program was much more detailed than the examination process performed by the TRS and involved a post registration full desk check (covering mathematics and boundary re-establishment) and an on-site field audit. Due to the intensive nature of the review processes (with each audit taking approximately 3 days to complete) and limited resources, only 80 to 150 audits of cadastral surveys (0.8 to 1.5 per cent of surveys lodged) are undertaken each year. 7.223 In selecting surveys for auditing, the Surveyor-General targets surveys which based on past experience and knowledge are likely to be sub-standard. Where problems are identified, the surveyors responsible are sent a requisition requiring them to rectify the non-conformance in the plans. Requisitions are classified as serious or non-serious, and as cadastral or standards related. In July 2000, a joint initiative between TRS and the Surveyor-General resulted in the movement from post-registration to pre-registration auditing of surveys. Consultant’s reviews 7.224 In mid-2000, a consulting firm was engaged to analyse the data collected from the survey audit process between 1996 and 2000. The purpose of the review was to provide an understanding of the current standard of cadastral surveying in Victoria and to develop a sampling plan to deliver on all three of the Surveyor-General’s quality assurance program objectives. The report found that only 24 per cent of surveys tested were free from non-conformance and that 13 per cent of surveys had serious non-conformance. 7.225 In April 2001, the consultants were again engaged to undertake a quality control review of Land Victoria’s auditing process. The consultants reviewed the compliance of cadastral surveys lodged against a checklist of Land Victoria survey requirements. Both the 2000 review and the 2001 review analysed information on survey audits conducted by the Surveyor-General for the period 1996 to 2000. 7.226 According to the consultant’s report entitled “Survey Audit Programme – Statistical Quality Control for Land Victoria”, of the surveys examined by that firm in 2001, only one in five surveys examined complied with Land Victoria requirements, with 64 per cent of surveys containing serious deficiencies. Consequently, the consultants considered that the poor standard of the survey information represented a threat to the integrity of the cadastre. 7.227 While recognising that the survey undertaken by the consultants was biased toward surveyors with a history of lodging sub-standard surveys, in extrapolating their findings into the survey population, the consultants concluded that there were likely to be 6 000 serious non-conforming land surveys lodged by surveyors each year. On the basis of these findings, the consultants recommended that:
Audits undertaken subsequent to the consultant’s reviews 7.228 Each year licensed surveyors prepare approximately 350 plans of sub-divisions. In 2000-01, the Surveyor-General completed 176 survey audits (covering 136 licensed surveyors), which represent 38 per cent of those licensed surveyors that prepared and lodged plans of sub-divisions during the year. 7.229 We found that 61 per cent of the surveys subject to review by the Surveyor-General received a satisfactory audit assessment, that is, they contained no serious non-conformances. The major serious non-conformance identified mainly related to missing dimensions on adopted boundaries and surveyors not connecting to the survey control network. 7.230 It is likely that the differences between the consultant’s findings and those reported by the Surveyor-General in his 2000-01 report were due to:
7.231 In the context of the latest available quality assurance findings, as referred to above, it is important that the Surveyor-General continually reassesses the quality assurance program to ensure that it continues to target areas of greatest risk. Accuracy of survey measuring equipment 7.232 A significant amount of a cadastral surveyor’s work involves the use of measuring equipment which includes steel bands, tapes, levelling staves, electronic measuring equipment and GPS equipment. The accuracy of each survey undertaken is reliant on the accuracy of this equipment. 7.233 Calibration refers to the testing of equipment against an established standard to ensure the accuracy of that equipment. In recognition of the importance of accurate measuring equipment, the requirement for legal traceability is built into legislation. The need to demonstrate legal traceability in the context of cadastral surveying arises from section 12A(1) of the National Measurement Act 1960, which provides that: "After the commencement of this section, every contract, dealing or other transaction made or entered into with respect to an interest in land that refers to any measurement of a physical quantity (including a reference to a measurement of a physical quantity for descriptive purposes only) shall refer to Australian legal units of measurements of that physical quantity." 7.234 Although the establishment and maintenance of facilities to provide for calibration is beyond the scope of the National Measurement Act 1960, the Act names the verifying authority for calibration in each State. It is then up to the Government in each State to ensure compliance through the inclusion of provisions in all relevant State legislation, and through the maintenance of appropriate facilities to satisfy the traceability requirements. 7.235 In Victoria, the Surveyor-General is named by the National Measurement Act 1960 as the verifying authority for tapes measuring the distances of 20, 30 and 50 metres, and Electronic Distance Measuring (EDM) equipment for the distances of 50 metres to 1160 metres. In the State regulations, section 15 of the Survey Co-ordination (Surveys) Regulations 1992 requires surveyors to use calibrated equipment. The Surveyor General’s Survey Practice Circular – August 1995 (Revised April 2000) states that: “The Surveyor General will ensure that facilities are available for calibration of distance measuring survey equipment”. 7.236 While legislative responsibility for calibration in Victoria rests with the Surveyor-General, operationally the Land Information Group provides these services (refer to a later section in this report entitled The Surveyor-General’s Legislative Responsibilities). Legislative reporting requirements 7.237 Section 20 of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 (the Act) requires the Surveyor-General to prepare an annual report, which is to be tabled in Parliament. Specifically the Act states that “The Surveyor-General shall furnish to the Minister before the thirty-first day of July in each year a report upon the progress of surveys within Victoria under the Commonwealth national mapping scheme and upon the co-ordination of surveys under this Act with such surveys under the Commonwealth scheme and generally upon the administration of this Act during the period of twelve months ended on the thirtieth day of June then last past, and a copy of such report shall be laid before each House of Parliament.” 7.238 Information provided to audit from the Surveyor-General indicated that from 1987 to 1995, the reports prepared by the Surveyor General under the authority of Section 20 of the Act were included in the annual reports of the relevant department. Since 1996, these reports have not been completed and tabled in Parliament in contravention of the Act. 7.239 The report covering the 2000-01 financial year was prepared by the
7.240 In the absence of legislative amendment, the Surveyor-General’s report should be prepared and tabled in Parliament on a timely basis, in accordance with the requirements of the Act. Surveyors Board of Victoria - Licensing of Practitioners and ensuring competency 7.241 Under the Surveyors Act 1978, the Surveyors Board of Victoria is the statutory body responsible for the registration and licensing of surveyors in Victoria. The Board has a pivotal role in overseeing the surveying profession, which includes providing specialist advice on surveying matters as well as maintaining the survey licensing system and providing advice and support to surveyors seeking registration. The Board conducts assessments of competency and issues Certificates of Competency for Surveying and Cadastral Surveying. 7.242 The Board is responsible for licensing surveyors, which involves:
7.243 The Board is also responsible for the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveying) Regulations 1995 and for making regulations regarding all aspects of surveying, including the survey control network, surveying practice and the conduct of surveyors. The Surveyor-General is the Chair of the Board and has overall responsibility for the management of its operations. 7.244 A surveyor who wants to conduct cadastral surveys is required to be licensed by the Board, which involves further training and undertaking a post-graduate course of study. Once issued with certificates, surveyors can currently remain registered and/or licensed for life. 7.245 The responsibilities of the Surveyors Board of Victoria also include investigating complaints regarding the conduct of registered and licensed surveyors and taking action against those surveyors who are in breach of legislation. However, under the existing Act, the Board is not empowered to deal with matters of professional conduct. 7.246 As part of the Department’s surveying reform process, problems associated with life-long registration of surveyors and the Board’s limited powers in investigating surveyors’ professional conduct were recognised and attempts have been made to address these issues in the Land Surveying Bill 2001. 7.247 In the audit questionnaire, surveyors were asked whether the current licensing requirements set out in the Surveyors Act 1978 and administered by the Surveyors Board of Victoria were sufficient to ensure the competency of licensed surveyors. In answering this question, the majority of respondents (74 per cent) agreed that the licensing requirements were sufficient. In respect of those respondents who believed that the licensing requirements were insufficient, the main reasons provided were that:
7.248 The questionnaire also asked surveyors to assess the Board’s examination and training requirements. The clear majority of respondents (76 per cent) considered the examination and training requirements prescribed by the Board to be sufficient to ensure the licensing of competent surveyors. Of the 10 per cent of surveyors who believed that the current arrangements were inadequate, the main themes expressed were that there was not enough emphasis on on-going competency assurance and training. 7.249 In summary, the respondents to our survey indicated a high level of confidence among cadastral surveyors in the Surveyors Board of Victoria. There also appears to be a high level of support for the provisions in the Land Surveying Bill 2001 requiring annual registration of surveyors to ensure competence and to identify on-going training needs. Furthermore, surveyors responding to the questionnaire appear to be of the view that the Bill will enable the (new) Board to deal with incompetent surveyors. Surveyor-General’s legislative responsibilities 7.250 The Surveyor-General has a pivotal role, enshrined in statute, in the administration and registration of land in the State involving various responsibilities which are detailed below. Policy advice 7.251 Under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, the Surveyor-General, through his report on the administration of the Act, provides high-level advice to the responsible Minister and the secretary of the Department on statutory and policy matters relating to survey issues. Creation and maintenance of the survey control network 7.252 Under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of the permanent marks and the survey control network is the joint responsibility of the Surveyor-General and departments and public authorities involved in undertaking surveys. However, from reading the Act in its totality, it could be reasonably deduced that the Surveyor-General has overarching responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of the survey control network. Furthermore, between 1945 and 1998, the Office of the Surveyor-General performed these functions, which indicates a long-standing acceptance of the operational responsibility for the maintenance of the survey control network by successive officers in the position of Surveyor-General. Calibration of survey equipment 7.253 In accordance with the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, and the associated regulations, surveyors are required to calibrate their equipment. The Surveyor-General, under the National Measurement Act 1960 and its associated regulations is named as the Verifying Authority for ‘length’ in Victoria. 7.254 The Surveyor-General is also the State Verifying Authority for the measurement of length, under the Commonwealth National Measurement Act 1960. Land registration 7.255 Under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, the Surveyor-General is responsible for:
Register of geographic names 7.256 Under the Geographic Place Names Act 1998, the Registrar of Geographic Names is responsible for keeping and maintaining the Register of Geographic Place Names. The Surveyor-General is currently the Registrar of Geographic Names. Electoral boundaries 7.257 The Surveyor-General is a Commissioner for Electoral Boundaries appointed under the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act 1982, with responsibility for re-division of State electorates (districts and provinces). The Surveyor General is also a member of the Commonwealth Electoral Boundaries Re-distribution Committee for Victoria, in accordance with Commonwealth legislation. Delivery of legislative responsibilities 7.258 We were advised by Land Victoria that the management of activities related to the survey control network, equipment calibration and survey mark management were transferred from the Surveyor-General to the Land Information Group in 1998. Subsequent to this transfer, a Service Level Agreement (which appears to relate to 1998-99) was entered into between the Land Information Group and Land Registry for the Land Information Group to provide a range of services to Land Registry. The agreement included the services outlined above, for which the Surveyor-General had responsibility. Despite the Surveyor-General having statutory responsibility for the provision of the above-mentioned functions, operational control has remained with the Land Information Group of the Department since 1998. 7.259 We are of the view that once legislative responsibility for a function or activity has been assigned to a statutory position, the ultimate responsibility cannot be transferred to a third party under a contract or other arrangement. Although the Surveyor-General has no operational control over these activities, he is still legislatively accountable. 7.260 If the Government considers that responsibility for these functions should not be assigned to the Surveyor-General, then this should be considered by the Parliament and, if deemed appropriate, reflected in legislation. Surveying reform 7.261 Surveying reform in Victoria has been a slow process, which has been impacted by a number of external factors such as Commonwealth National Competition Policy, changing governments and administrative re-organisations between departments. 7.262 In the early 1990s, the Surveyors Board of Victoria and the Survey and Mapping Co-ordination Council undertook a review of surveying legislation and produced a report which was released in 1992. The recommendations of the review were incorporated into a draft Survey and Land Information Bill. At that time, the surveying and mapping functions were the responsibility of the Surveying and Mapping Victoria section within the Department of Treasury and Finance. 7.263 The draft Bill was presented to the Minister in 1994 but did not proceed as the Government, through the former Office of Regulation Reform and the former Department of Business and Employment, had some months earlier initiated a review of all occupational regulation. That review, known as the Licence Simplification Program (LSP), was aimed at reducing the overall number of business licences in Victoria by decreasing the amount of business regulation. Later in the same year, mapping was removed from Surveying and Mapping Victoria, and incorporated into the new Office of Geographic Data Co-ordination (OGDC). At the same time the Office of the Surveyor-General (OSG) was created. 7.264 Following the formation of OGDC and OSG, the regulatory review process was recommenced focussing on the registration of the surveying profession but excluding mapping. In April 1995, a discussion paper, “A Review on the Regulation of Cadastral Surveyors in Victoria”, was released for public comment. However, in May 1996, responsibility for OGDC and OSG was moved from the Department of Treasury and Finance to the then newly formed Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). Further internal reorganisation within that Department resulted in the integration of the functions concerned with surveying, valuation, mapping, Crown land management and land titling functions into a single business unit, namely Land Victoria in June 1996, into which OSG and OGDC were absorbed. 7.265 Another major change to the regulatory environment, which took place about the same time, was the creation of the Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 1995. The main aim of the Regulations was to facilitate the movement from a ‘prescriptive’ regulatory environment, which established specific requirements and inputs to an ‘enabling’ regulatory environment focusing on outcomes. These new regulations were designed to shift much of the regulatory responsibility back to licensed surveyors by requiring them to apply greater professional judgement in satisfying professional standards, rather than relying on regulatory requirements designed to ensure compliance with those standards. 7.266 Consistent with this objective, the Regulations now set only the minimum standards for the surveying of title boundaries. For example, in relation to the calibration of survey equipment (ensuring the accuracy of measuring equipment), the Regulations do not require equipment to be calibrated within a certain timeframe, but only that equipment meet minimum accuracy requirements. The surveyor now determines the frequency with which this equipment needs to be calibrated in order to satisfy those accuracy standards. Prior to the Regulations coming into force, surveyors were required to calibrate their equipment every 6 months. 7.267 With the Government’s agenda in the mid 1990s focussing on reducing the size and cost of government, the Department decided to reassess its reform process. Following this assessment, another discussion paper, Review of the Surveyors Act 1978, was released for public comment in late 1996. 7.268 However, the Government’s regulatory reform agenda was again overtaken by external factors, which this time took the form of the Commonwealth Government’s National Competition Policy (NCP). The legislative review required to be undertaken under the NCP involved an examination of all legislation for restrictive or anti-competitive practices, which was broader than that required by the Department’s review process. Initially the NCP review of the surveying legislation was to be undertaken at a later date. However, the Department decided to bring forward the planned NCP review of the Surveyors Act 1978, so that it could be consolidated with the on-going policy review of surveying legislation to form a single review process. As part of this process, a private consultant was engaged to examine the Surveyors Act 1978 against the NCP principles and in July 1997 a report titled, National Competition Policy Review of Surveyors Act 1978, was completed. 7.269 Prior to the issue of that report, the Office of the Surveyor-General, the Office of the Valuer-General and the Registrar of Titles were combined to form the Land Registry Group in Land Victoria. Under this new structure, the Surveyor-General was responsible for:
7.270 In line with the overall Government policy at that time, Land Victoria took the role of policy setter and purchaser of survey services, rather than a direct provider of services. This role included policy reform, system overview, and monitoring and maintenance of standards. As a result, departments and public sector agencies purchased survey services directly from contracted providers. 7.271 The above reform process also involved Land Victoria in 1998 transferring responsibility for the geodetic survey control function and the calibration services from the Surveyor-General to the Land Information Group within Land Victoria. 7.272 In February 1999, an external contractor was employed to develop the Government’s response to the NCP review of Surveyors Act 1978 which was subsequently released and endorsed by the Premier in March 1999. In its response, the State Government decided to replace the existing registration scheme with an industry-run accreditation scheme based on legislated minimum performance standards. 7.273 Later that year, a new reform process was initiated and a co-ordination committee, with representatives from Government, the surveying profession and external interest groups was created to develop a new regulatory model. The process known as the “Reform of Land Surveying in Victoria project” involved public meetings, wide-ranging discussions and workshops. The aims of this process were to:
7.274 It was originally intended that the scope of this reform process would be broader and include an examination of two existing pieces of legislation and their attendant regulations, namely the Surveyors Act 1978 and the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958. However, in early 2000, due to the complex and contentious issues surrounding the management of the Spatial Data Infrastructure, the Department decided that it would be too time consuming to include a review of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 at that time. As a result, the reform process concentrated on those matters primarily associated with the Surveyors Act 1978. 7.275 The reform process continued throughout 2000 and, by the end of that year, a new Land Surveying Bill 2000 (the Bill) was drafted. The proposed Bill included the following principles and characteristics:
7.276 In early 2000, the industry was informed that substantial changes had been made to the proposed Bill by Land Victoria. The major changes included the removal of the requirement to establish a Land Surveying Advisory Council, the removal of the definition of the roles and responsibilities for the Surveyor-General and a change in the manner in which the proposed lot levy was to be introduced. 7.277 In response to concerns raised by the surveying profession to these changes, which were conveyed to the Department, the proposed Bill was restructured again to remove the concept of a co-regulatory model and to re-introduce a government administered regulatory model. The co-regulation model had proposed a registration scheme run by industry through a recognised professional body, whereas the government administered regulatory body involved an expanded Surveyors Board. 7.278 The surveying profession indicated that its support of the proposed arrangements was dependent on some further amendments being made to the proposed legislation in relation to:
7.279 As at the date of preparation of this report, the Land Surveying Bill had not been passed by the Parliament. 7.280 As indicated above, the Department’s legislative reform agenda has been limited to reforming the Surveyors Act 1978. The other major Act impacting on the provision of land survey information, the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, has not been included in the current reform process. As a result, a number of important issues have not been reviewed as part of the reform process, including:
7.281 We recommend that the Department’s legislative review process be broadened to cover matters outlined in the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 and other associated issues. RESPONSE provided by Secretary, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Overall Comment The objective of the audit as stated was to “to assess whether the systems and procedures for the recording of information in Land Victoria’s land registration system ensure that the information is accurate and reliable and conforms with the requirements of legislation”. Land registration systems in Victoria cover a range of professional disciplines and stakeholders including legal practitioners, conveyancers, financial institutions, property developers, local councils, surveyors and the spatial information industry. In this context survey activity is primarily concerned with recording information to facilitate cadastral surveying and in particular the delimitation of boundaries in support of the integrity of the cadastre and the operation of the State’s land registration system and land market. The audit report suggests (sections 7.68, 7.73, 7.97) that cadastral surveying activities have a broader role and influence in the operation of the State’s land administration and land registration systems than is in fact the case. In 2001-02 Land Registry within Land Victoria will register approximately 800 000 dealings against land of which only 10 000 or 1.25 per cent will involve provision of information by licensed cadastral surveyors. In this context it is important to note that about 50 of the 66 (75 per cent) surveyors responding to the audit survey rated the completeness and accuracy quality of cadastral information currently recorded by Land Victoria as satisfactory or excellent – refer Chart 7I. The Department is of the view that the Audit report would have benefitted had comments been obtained from a broader cross section of the survey and spatial information industry, which encompasses the disciplines of remote sensing and photogrammetry, mapping and surveying, land administration and geographic information services. Practical applications include environmental monitoring, location based services, provision of emergency services, and management of natural resources and assets. While cadastral land surveying still plays a very important role, the issues raised in audit’s review need to be considered in the context of the much larger spatial information industry rather than in isolation. The Audit report identifies a number of areas of misalignment between existing legislation, which tends to reflect out dated practices and technology, and the current spatial information environment. The Department agrees with this assessment and with Audit’s recommendation that the Department review the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958. Survey Control Network The Audit identifies a high level of non-compliance by surveyors with the Surveyor-General’s directive relative to the connection of cadastral surveys to coordinated marks”(Section 7.131), but recognises that “cadastral surveys for land development and other purposes are not dependent on this (control) framework”( Section 7.107) The Department agrees that there is a mismatch between statutory requirements and practice and will review this issue as a matter of priority. The recommended review of the Survey Coordination Act 1958 will also be relevant in this context. In undertaking this review, the Department will consult with the primary users of the state’s geodetic framework as well as with cadastral surveyors who currently are required to provide information to support the survey control network, and with the broader spatial information community. Audit also raises concerns about the level of maintenance of the survey control network. To address these concerns NRE has commissioned its internal audit provider, Acumen Alliance to conduct a risk analysis which will benchmark Land Victoria’s delivery of geodetic services against similar interstate organisations, identify and evaluate any significant risks for government and the public in the delivery of geodetic services and recommend strategies for management of any significant risks identified. Part 7 - Natural Resources and Environment, continued:
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