Page 1290 - Week 05 - Thursday, 31 May 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
This bill is to regulate the practice of land surveying in the territory. Land surveying, or cadastral surveying as it is sometimes known, has been a regulated profession in Australia since colonial times. The accurate measurement of land is so fundamental to Australia’s land markets that all Australian governments have chosen to regulate the practice of surveying by registering or licensing professional surveyors. In recent times, every state and territory has subjected its surveying regulations to competition policy scrutiny, and in every case some form of registration of professional surveyors has been maintained.
In the territory, professional surveyors have played a major role in the development of Canberra and, in particular, in the safeguarding and enhancement of our unique land tenure. Prior to 1967, ACT surveyors were registered in New South Wales and specially licensed by the commonwealth to practise in the territory. Under the first ACT surveyors ordnance of 1967, 97 surveyors were initially registered. The number of registered surveyors peaked at 210 in 1976. Driven by technological and administrative change, the number has since shrunk to about 70, but the work of those 70 professionals is vital to the orderly development of our city and to the confidence enjoyed by both buyers and sellers of ACT leasehold land.
The only major change to surveying legislation since 1967 occurred with the introduction of the Surveyors Act 2001. This act greatly simplified the regulatory infrastructure and replaced the then chief surveyor and the surveyors board with a single, part-time, statutory appointment: the Commissioner for Surveys. The Surveyors Act 2001 has in general served the territory well. Surveys for the making of land boundaries in the ACT are of a very high standard and complaints against registered surveyors are rare. The independent commissioner model, however, has proved less than ideal.
The regulatory role of the commissioner has not required the time and attention envisaged when the legislation was drafted back in 1999, but the independent status of the position prevents the commissioner from direct participation in many of the technical and management challenges facing the ACT Planning and Land Authority. Changes to the Surveyors Act are required to enable the most senior surveyor in the territory to play a more proactive role in the management of the surveying and spatial information activities of the authority.
The Surveyors Bill 2007 retains the best features of the 2001 act, but replaces the commissioner with a full-time public service position: the chief surveyor. The chief surveyor will have all the statutory responsibilities of the commissioner, but will also manage the surveying and spatial information programs of the authority.
The bill also introduces compulsory continuing professional development for registered surveyors to maintain parity with other surveying jurisdictions, creates a survey advisory committee to advise the chief surveyor on the practice of surveying and the professional development guidelines, and resolves some minor anomalies in the earlier legislation.
The disciplinary powers of the chief surveyor have largely been retained from the previous act, but it is acknowledged that these require some review to bring them into
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .