2014–15 Annual Reporton the administration of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958

Prepared by John E Tulloch, Surveyor-General of Victoria

Front cover: GNSS survey of Round Hill trigonometric beacon, with Mount Piper in the background

Office of Surveyor-General VictoriaLand VictoriaDepartment of Environment, Land, Water and Planning570 Bourke StreetMelbourne VIC 3000Phone: (03) 8636 2525Fax: (03) 8636 2776Email: surveyor.general@delwp.vic.gov.auWeb: www.delwp.vic.gov.au>Property and land titles>Surveying

© The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning 2015

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Contents1 Introduction 2

2 Legislation and regulations 2

3 Survey Control Network (sections 6, 12, 14–18, 21A) 3

4 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network Positioning 3

5 Geodetic infrastructure 4

6 Datum (section 21A) 5

7 Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) (sections 15–18) 6

8 Central Plan Office (CPO) (sections 4, 8–11) 6

9 Co-ordination of surveys (sections 6, 12–14, 19) 7

10 Verification surveys (section 6) 8

11 Appendix: Operational statistics 2014–2015 9

Note: Items in brackets denote the relevant sections of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958

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1 IntroductionThe Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 and the Surveying Act 2004 provide the primary legislative framework for land surveyors undertaking geodetic and cadastral surveys. While responsibility for this legislation remained with the Minister for Planning following machinery of government changes in December 2014, on 1 January 2015, Land Victoria, incorporating the Office of Surveyor-General Victoria, became part of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Land surveying is integral to land ownership and development, and also supports a wider range of activities related to the environment, communications, transportation and infrastructure. In conjunction with locating and placing survey marks with high positional accuracy on the earth's surface, land surveyors increasingly use satellite positioning technology to create spatial information that is applied in geographic information systems and location-based services. As a result of the widespread adoption of spatial information technology, the information created by land surveyors is being utilised by a diverse range of sectors in government, industry and the community.

The underlying principles of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 are to establish an efficient system that:

minimises duplication of survey work and reduces overall costs of surveys to the community;

provides for the lodgement of plans and surveys by departments and authorities in the Central Plan Office (CPO);

controls survey procedures and stipulates accuracy standards for compliance by land surveyors and the spatial industry; and

establishes Victoria’s network of permanent survey marks to support the national geodetic and cadastral (property title, rights, restrictions and responsibilities) infrastructure.

The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 was implemented to co-ordinate land surveying and mapping activities in Victoria and facilitate cooperation with the Commonwealth of Australia in relation to a National Mapping Scheme. The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 directs the department to maintain a Central Plan Office (CPO). While the administration of the CPO is performed by Land Registration Services within Land Victoria, the supervision of the CPO is a function of the Surveyor-General.

The CPO continues to operate in a ‘virtual’ form as a repository for registered legislative (LEGL) plans; survey plans, survey information, and Crown land dealings. The plan and survey information registered by the CPO is available from Land Victoria’s online information service. Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) increasingly acts as a repository for many of the paper records that were traditionally held by the CPO.

2 Legislation and regulations While no changes were made to the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 during the reporting period, minor consequential amendments were made to the Survey Co-ordination Regulations 2014 via the Survey Co-ordination Amendment Regulations 2015. This resulted from the making of the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2015, which replaced the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2005. The amendments to the Survey Co-ordination Regulations 2014 were minor and updated references to the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2015. Both new regulations were made on 2 June 2015 and commenced operation on 14 June 2015.

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The Surveying Act 2004 includes provisions relevant to survey co-ordination activities and the specification of the statutory functions of the Surveyor-General. The Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2015, pursuant to the Surveying Act 2004, incorporate standards for controlling the accuracy of cadastral surveys to maintain the integrity of the cadastre and the requirements for maintaining consistency in cadastral surveys. Conformance with these standards by the land surveying profession is monitored by the Office of Surveyor-General Victoria’s (OSGV) survey audit program.

3 Survey Control Network (sections 6, 12, 14–18, 21A)The Survey Control Network (SCN) is defined in the Surveying Act 2004 as ’the geodetic system that provides spatial references in Victoria by –

(a) permanent marks and survey marks adopted or established in accordance with the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958; and

(b) survey marks established under this Act or the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2005; and

(c) the application of data obtained from global navigation satellite systems.’

Victoria’s SCN provides Victoria’s realisation of Australia’s positioning and vertical datums – the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA94) and the Australian Height Datum (AHD71), respectively.

The SCN is used as the positioning framework upon which Victoria’s land registration and spatial information systems are based, typical of all Australian jurisdictions and most developed nations.

The SCN currently comprises approximately 200,000 survey marks, whose location and/or height are known to varying degrees of accuracy. The marks include standard brass plaque-in-concrete Permanent Marks (PMs), deep driven High Stability Marks (HSMs), Primary Cadastral Marks (PCMs) and the network of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference (CORS) sites. See Appendix for survey mark statistics.

Detailed information and metadata associated with the survey marks that comprise the SCN can be accessed via the Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) (see section 7 of this report).

4 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network Positioning

The Victorian government has a strategy of embracing GNSS CORS technology as a means of delivering high precision positioning information and services. GNSS CORS is a rapidly evolving technology and is increasingly being used in government, commercial, academic, scientific and societal applications to provide high-accuracy, real-time positioning relative to Australia’s national GDA94 and AHD71 datums. Fundamentally, Victoria’s GNSS CORS contributes to the establishment and realisation of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) and underpins the maintenance and enhancement of GDA94 in Victoria.

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High precision positioning information and services are made available in Victoria through the operation of a state-wide network of GNSS CORS sites known collectively as Vicmap Position – GPSnet.

Principally hosted and maintained by the department’s Information Services Division (ISD), GPSnet is comprised of GNSS CORS sites funded by the Victorian Government and partly by the federal government’s AuScope and ‘GNSS in Schools’ programs (see section 5). It is supported by several local government agencies and other private interests through numerous formal tenure arrangements. The GNSS base station network consists of 115 continuously operating GNSS base stations sited across the state, all of which provide users with access to real-time and archived data streams.

5 Geodetic infrastructure

The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 is the principal legislation dealing with Victoria’s geodetic infrastructure, also referred to as the SCN, which is comprised of a network of physical ground marks; a network of GNSS CORS sites and hosting technology; information about those GNSS CORS and marks; geodetic analysis and processing software; corporate systems for the management and delivery of positioning information; and various policies, standards and guidelines. The co-ordinate values of Victoria’s GNSS CORS and ground marks are held in a database accessible from the Internet, which allows industry and the general public to access this information free of charge. The marks of greatest significance are protected and maintained to provide a physical means of traceability to the respective GDA94 and AHD71 positioning and vertical datums.

OSGV continues to maintain and enhance the SCN through the installation of new marks, collection of new observations, routine statistical analysis, ongoing improvements to network adjustment software, routine mark maintenance activities and a major upgrade of its online systems (discussed in section 7 Survey Marks Enquiry Service). Work continues to integrate the HSMs installed at all National Levelling Network (NLN) junction points within the GDA94 and AHD71 network adjustments through GNSS and levelling surveys. The national correction surface between the ellipsoid and AHD71 (known as AUSGeoid) continues to provide reliable corrections to heights obtained through the use of GNSS to produce AHD71 heights. OSGV continues to address localised AUSGeoid problems in Victoria through routine GNSS and levelling surveys.

Victoria continues to support the federal government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). In accordance with provisions of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 that relate to the co-ordination of work on national geodetic infrastructure, Victoria contributes to the NCRIS AuScope program through the collaboration of OSGV and ISD. Victoria’s 10 AuScope stations are an integral component of the geodetic network and serve as the high-fidelity ‘backbone’ for GDA94 and AUSGeoid in Victoria. Through funding received from another federal government initiative (‘GNSS in Schools’) designed to increase the awareness of geography and positioning in secondary schools across Australia, five new GNSS CORS sites have been installed at Ballarat Grammar School, Coburg Senior High School, Cranbourne Secondary College, John Monash Science School and Werribee Secondary College.

Map Grid of Australia 1994 (MGA94) survey control with suitable SCN marks was provided for 15 specific cadastral surveys during 2014–15 to enable each land parcel within those surveys to be accurately depicted within the digital map base – Vicmap Property, on a priority basis. In excess of 65 high-precision GNSS surveys were undertaken throughout Victoria to improve and/or densify the SCN, to improve the alignment of published SCN co-ordinates with positioning derived from the GNSS CORS network, and to improve the quality of AUSGeoid.

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In conjunction with the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) and other jurisdiction members, OSGV continues to progress the development of the eGeodesy project and has made considerable progress in its implementation within Land Victoria. Akin to the objectives of ePlan (discussed in section 9 of this report – Co-ordination of Surveys), eGeodesy is an initiative to standardise the capture and exchange of geodetic information to automate network adjustment processes, and to support datum development and maintenance. In addition, Victoria contributed to a major review and update of the GDA94 Technical Manual and to the update of ICSM’s Standards and Practices for Control Surveys (SP1), version 2.1. SP1 is accessible via www.icsm.gov.au> Standards and Practices for Control Surveys (SP1).

In July 2014, a consultation draft version of Victoria’s geodetic strategy, which focusses on the development and maintenance of Victoria’s geodetic infrastructure over the next five years, was released to a selection of Victorian geodetic infrastructure stakeholders (in government, industry and academic sectors). OSGV received positive constructive feedback and has refined the strategy accordingly. It is expected that this strategy will be released in the first half of the next reporting period.

Due to the static nature of the data associated with the majority of PCMs and the inability to include them within an adjustment of that data to enhance the spatial accuracy of their position and assess the certainty of the data, the Surveyor-General’s policy on recording PCM data within SMES was varied in September 2014. Accordingly, PCM information shown in previous reports has not been included in this report.

6 Datum (section 21A)

The realisation of the GDA94 national positioning datum in Victoria is based upon a large set of measurements observed across Victoria’s network of SCN ground marks. Due to several factors, the realisation of GDA94 through the SCN is subject to continual change and enhancement. As new land development occurs, the SCN is either improved or compromised with marks destroyed as a consequence of infrastructure construction. Following the major re-adjustment of the SCN in June 2014, the SCN has seen two incremental adjustment updates (September 2014 and June 2015), which have resulted in improvements to co-ordinate and uncertainty values for the majority of SCN marks.

The realisation of the AHD71 national height datum is provided by Victoria’s extensive levelling network, comprised of the NLN junction points and other survey marks throughout the state, which are all maintained by OSGV. AHD71 is derived by reference to a system of tide gauges around the coastline of Australia maintained by the National Tidal Centre, within the Bureau of Meteorology. Victoria’s AHD71 network of spirit levelling measurements was readjusted in June 2014 and has led to several improvements to the published values.

Through its involvement with the Permanent Committee on Geodesy (PCG) of the ICSM and an involvement with the federal government’s Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI), OSGV continues to actively participate in a research project focussed on the development of a next generation datum (see section 6.1). In addition, Victoria continues to make good progress towards finalising its contribution to the national datum re-adjustment, scheduled for mid-to late-2015.

In collaboration with ISD, OSGV continues to contribute to the Asia Pacific Reference Frame (APREF) project through the provision of GNSS CORS data and data analysis. The broad objective of APREF is to create and maintain an accurate and densely realised geodetic framework across the Asia Pacific region based on continuous observation and analysis of GNSS data, upon which the development and enhancement of future datums in Australia will be based. The APREF project affords OSGV a capacity to contribute to the monitoring of local and regional crustal deformation across Victoria, and significantly improve the precision and reliability of Victoria’s SCN.

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6.1 Datum modernisationFor several years, the government jurisdictions that form the ICSM PCG have undertaken a range of investigative activities to address the apparent and growing weaknesses in Australia’s national datum, GDA94, and the ongoing trends in precise positioning. In early 2015, this effort culminated in the development of a comprehensive roadmap to modernise GDA94 and recommended a progressive, two-staged approach to its implementation. The first step is proposed to commence on 1 January 2017 and the second step on 1 January 2020.

The datum modernisation roadmap and other details relating to its progressive implementation can be found at www.icsm.gov.au > Modernising Australia’s geocentric datum.

7 Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) (sections 15–18)

The Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) is the survey mark information database that serves as the official register of survey marks in accordance with section 15 of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 and section 6 of the Survey Co-ordination Regulations 2014.

OSGV made a significant investment in the re-development of SMES in 2013–14, which involved major technological upgrades to the application framework, software and computer infrastructure. The modernised SMES was released on 25 July 2014 and is currently available online from www.delwp.vic.gov.au > Property and land titles > Surveying > SMES. Since that time, several issues have been addressed and enhancements have been made in response to stakeholder feedback.

This online facility provides co-ordinate and height values, images of the PM sketch plans, a wide range of formats for downloading information, and the ability to update survey mark information online. The enhancements include a suite of Web services which facilitate the query and retrieval of information from mobile devices and a host of interface and useability improvements. Surveying firms represent the vast majority of registered users of the system and there are currently 235 registered SMES users who are entitled to enter data into SMES. Several of these accounts represent surveying firms, rather than individual surveyors. Other (non-registered) users include utility companies, state and local government departments, mapping and engineering construction companies, and educational institutions.

8 Central Plan Office (CPO) (sections 4, 8–11)

During the reporting period, 791 plans were registered in the CPO. Original survey plans of Crown allotments may be based on a survey requiring field records to be provided by a licensed surveyor, or may be compiled from existing information (plans only). The preparation of field records only (without the need for a new plan) will occasionally suffice for updating Crown allotment details. Other plans include Title Plans for Crown grant purposes and the provision of separate dimensions of Crown allotments; plans to enable reservations, revocation of reserves, road closures and road proclamations over Crown land; and plans that are required under legislation to be lodged in the CPO (such as the Crown Lands (Reserves) Act 1978). Table 1 outlines the categories of these lodged plans.

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Description Number

Original Survey Plans 158

(Plans and Field Records) (76)

(Plans only) (81)

(Field Records only) (1)

Title Plans 93

(Crown grants) (88)

(Separate dimensions) (5)

Legislative (LEGL) Plans 540

National Park Plans 0

Total 791

Table 1 – plans lodged in the CPO during 2014-15

The CPO is also a central repository for public agency aerial survey records (aerial photographic imagery). The CPO’s library of aerial photography is a photographic record of Victoria, recording conditions and developments across the state at regular intervals. It contains approximately 650,000 prints dating from the 1930s to 1992. Approximately 150,000 prints have been captured as digital images. Prints and images may be accessed at the Land Victoria archive at 57 Cherry Lane, Laverton North.

9 Co-ordination of surveys (sections 6, 12–14, 19)

There are 179 Proclaimed Survey Areas (PSA) in Victoria. It is a requirement of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 that all surveys performed within a PSA are connected to permanent marks of the relevant SCN standard traverse to facilitate homogeneity of surveys in accordance with the state's framework and support the production of positional information and mapping products. The requirement to connect cadastral surveys to the standard traverse and permanent marks within a PSA is replicated by similar requirements under the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2015 for all cadastral surveys in the state.

The Surveyor-General has continued to be active in promoting the acceptance and use of the SPEAR (Surveying and Planning through Electronic Applications and Referrals) program by the surveying profession. In accordance with the aims of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, the increased uptake of SPEAR by surveyors and local government authorities in 2014–15 has provided efficiencies in the planning and plan registration processes.

In conjunction with ICSM and other Australian jurisdictions, OSGV is participating in a Land Victoria working group focussed on the implementation of an ePlan system in Victoria designed to allow the complete digital transfer of survey information to provide efficiencies and reduce duplication in the performance and completion of subsequent surveys. Land Victoria is now receiving ePlans for registration and further development of the system will occur in 2015–16.

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10 Verification surveys (section 6)

A requirement under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 is for certain survey equipment to be compared to a standard of measurement. Through the establishment and maintenance of six baselines with deep-seated concrete pillars, the department provides survey equipment calibration facilities for Electromagnetic Distance Measurement (EDM) equipment as a service to the profession. This is achieved through the Surveyor-General of Victoria, who is a Verifying Authority for Length in Victoria under the National Measurement Act 1960 (Commonwealth), as administered by the National Measurement Institute. Certification of this authority is based upon the Surveyor-General’s continued accreditation by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA).

OSGV’s successful technical reassessment by NATA in May 2014, and its compliance with ISO 17025, has enabled it to maintain the Surveyor-General’s status as a Verifying Authority for length until May 2017.

Victoria’s six EDM baselines are located at Bendigo, Braeside, Geelong, Hamilton, Cowwarr and Mitcham. The level of stability monitored at all baselines was acceptable for the period 2014–15. The surveying profession relies heavily upon the availability of verified EDM calibration baselines to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Survey Co-ordination Regulations 2014. All baselines were re-verified by the OSGV in November 2014.

For the 2014–15 period, 248 individual bookings were made by surveyors to use the Braeside, Mitcham and Geelong baselines. This number represents the number of times these baselines were used by surveyors to check the accuracy of their equipment against a recognised value standard and thereby comply with Regulation 6(1) of the Surveying (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations 2005. Although not directed by the provisions of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958, OSGV undertook ten levelling stave comparisons in the reporting period.

See Appendix for statistics on all verification activities.

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11 Appendix: Operational statistics 2014–15

At 30 June 2015

Total PMs(excluding those recorded as damaged/disturbed/destroyed/missing/not found) 138,421

Total PMs with GDA94 rigorously adjusted co-ordinates(excluding those recorded as damaged/disturbed/destroyed/missing/not found) 24,083

Total PMs with low accuracy GDA94 co-ordinates(excluding those recorded as damaged/disturbed/destroyed/missing/not found) 114,338

Total PMs with AHD 4th order or better accuracy(excluding those recorded as damaged/disturbed/destroyed/missing/not found) 66,774

Number of new PMs registered in SMES during 2014–15 1,385

Number of high-precision GNSS surveys undertaken by OSGV to improve and/or densify the SCN, or improve AUSGeoid 65

Number of new PMs installed by OSGV during 2014–15 70

Number of projects undertaken by OSGV to supply co-ordinated PMs at surveyors’ requests during 2014–15 15

Number of PMs physically visited/inspected/occupied/re-observed by OSGV during 2014–15 500

Total number of registered users of SMES 235

Number of bookings on Melbourne and Geelong EDM Baselines to compare EDM equipment during 2014–15 248

Number of Certificates of Comparison issued by OSGV for staves during 2014–15 10

Note: Due to the static nature of the data associated with the majority of Primary Cadastral Marks (PCMs) and the inability to include them within an adjustment of that data to enhance the spatial accuracy of their position and assess the certainty of the data, the Surveyor-General’s policy on recording PCM data within SMES was varied in September 2014. Accordingly, PCM information shown in previous reports has not been included in this current report.

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