Spatially enabling land administration: drivers, initiatives and future directions for Australia

Spatially enabled societies demand accurate and timely information about land. Australia's land administration systems are state and territory based, administered by independent agencies. These arrangements have served the nation well. However, Australia's increasingly national economic, environmental, and social management priorities challenge their design and capacity. Land management issues now require approaches based on need, not jurisdiction. Information to found sound policymaking at a national level is also essential. Indeed, a national infrastructure for managing land information is an obvious tool needed by governments at all levels: national, state and territory and local. Given Australia's complex federal arrangements, an infrastructure built on existing systems that negates the need for a new national federal agency appears to be the optimal approach. In order to achieve this workable national infrastructure, eight design elements must be developed: a shared vision, a common language or ontology, a governance framework, a business case for change, selection of a data model, an accompanying technical infrastructure, an implementation/maintenance model, and an international compatibility framework. An analysis of the key national drivers and emerging international initiatives is needed to ensure that these elements, and any others that are identified, suit national needs. Extensive future research is required to achieve each of the eight design elements in the context of drivers and global trends.