John R Parker
Surveyor General of Victoria, Australia and
Director Service and Industry Standards
Chairman of Surveyors Board of Victoria, Australia
Vice Chairman F.I.G. Commission One
Peter J Ramm
Manager, Landata and Industry Standards, Land Victoria
Alan J Fennell
Deputy Director, Valuation and Survey Services, Land Victoria
ABSTRACT
Victoria is one of the leaders of cadastral reform within Australia. The Office of Surveyor General is driving reform of the Victorian cadastre on a number of levels so that increased efficiencies in the land tenure system can be delivered without compromising its integrity. This paper examines the scope of the changes undertaken or being considered and identifies some of the associated benefits.
Greater co-operation between government agencies facilitates the provision of integrated and customer focused land information service delivery. Attention will be given to organisational reforms that have brought together land information divisions which were previously in different Departments and the opportunities for cadastral reform this has provided.
Quality Assurance has proved an effective mechanism for cadastral reform. The role of the Office of Surveyor General in actively promoting the adoption of Quality Assurance throughout the surveying industry will be examined and the procedural reforms that have resulted will be covered.
Genuine cadastral reform requires that regulatory arrangements be reviewed. The current review of key survey legislation will be detailed and the impact that national economic reform (National Competition Policy) will have in shaping the future survey regulatory framework will be assessed.
This paper will also look at how new technology has been utilised to engineer cadastral reform. Advances in relation to GPS, photogrammetry and the geodetic network will be examined and the research partnership with academia will be explained. In addition, the employment of technology to deliver on-line cadastral customer services will be covered.
The linkage between future directions and trends of the surveying industry and current cadastral reform will be detailed and information provided regarding the move to a survey accurate co-ordinated cadastre. A specific example will be used to illustrate how the various components of cadastral reform combine to produce qualitative change and the paper will conclude with an explanation of how the Surveyor General’s commitment to continuous improvement ensures that significant cadastral reform will continue.
INTRODUCTION
Globalism and related competitive pressures are leading governments world-wide to actively reconsider what the role of government should be and how that role can be performed in the most effective and efficient way for maximum benefit. Australia has, over the last several years, made considerable changes to the number and nature of government services provided and to the way they are delivered. Measures have been adopted to minimise government intervention and expenditure, to reassess trade practices, competition policies and mutual recognition of trades, professions and occupations across jurisdictions and to restructure, privatise and outsource certain public sector functions.
The move to ‘re-invent’ government has a direct impact upon cadastral issues. Governments have traditionally accepted responsibility for the delivery of cadastral surveying functions and have retained control over delivery in order to maintain the integrity of land tenure systems. The drive for improvements in public sector productivity and service quality requires that the role of government in survey service provision and regulation be reassessed within the context of the new policy environment.
Given that cadastral systems throughout the world are continually evolving, various ‘change instruments’ must be utilised if genuine cadastral reform is to be achieved. Victoria is harnessing organisational, technical, legislative, and Quality system mechanisms so that reform can deliver a cadastre best able to meet future user requirements. Victoria’s experience in this area will serve as the basis for demonstrating what can be achieved through a multidimensional approach to cadastral reform that produces change on a number of levels.
ORGANISATIONAL INTEGRATION
Significant structural reforms have been implemented by the State Government to achieve the effective utilisation of land and land information essential to Victoria’s growth and competitiveness. This organisational reform is providing both the impetus and opportunity for considerable cadastral reform.
Of primary importance in relation to cadastral reform opportunities has been the integration of several of Victoria’s land related businesses into a single business. This organisational integration has led to the establishment of the Land Victoria Program as part of the Department of Natural Resources & Environment.
Land Victoria is the government program responsible for land in Victoria. The mission of the Program is to help Victorians maximise the value created from land. Land Victoria comprises the former survey, valuation, geographic and geospatial data, Crown land and land titling functions.
The Land Registry Group within Land Victoria provides systems and services for the Victorian property market and the infrastructure for the positioning needs of the State. The cadastral survey function is located within Land Registry.
The Land Registry Group comprises the following business units -
Elimination of Demarcation
The consolidation of land related agencies into a single business enables Victorians to create wealth and value through the use of land by facilitating the provision of more affordable, accessible and integrated land information products and services. Organisational integration helps achieve this by eliminating the demarcation issues which presented a significant impediment to previous attempts at cadastral reform.
Single Contact Point
Under the new structural arrangements, a common approach to cadastral issues is now emerging. The capacity to deal with all Victorian land, including all rural and urban land, (Crown and freehold), within the one Program allows for effective co-ordination between former business units so that a single point of customer access is provided. This will enable the delivery of services in a transparent manner.
In line with this approach, Land Victoria has recently established a Land and Survey Information Centre that combines both Crown and freehold cadastral information that was previously held by two separate organisations in two different locations. In addition, organisational integration is facilitating the incorporation of Crown and freehold cadastral information into the State Digital Map Base and is providing a co-ordinated mechanism by which digital lodgement of survey and subdivisional plans can be achieved.
These and other aspects of cadastral reform will be examined in greater detail below. The key point being made, however, is that organisational integration can generate increased scope for the pursuit of cadastral reform on a number of levels.
PROCEDURAL REFORM
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance has proved to be an effective tool utilised by Land Victoria to help ensure the integrity of the land tenure system and to drive positive change throughout the survey industry.
Prior to the introduction of Quality Assurance systems, the survey function of Land Victoria was experiencing problems with the quality of outsourced survey work. For example, in mapping, more money was being spent on examining the quality of surveyors work than was being paid to the contractor.
The adoption of a quality framework has provided a mechanism that allows for the effective control of outsourced service provision via a Register of Contract Survey Firms. Individual surveyors and firms wishing to be accepted onto the Register must apply to the survey office, provide details of any Quality Assurance certification or quality system in place and outline general procedures for undertaking and checking surveys. Firms which satisfy criteria outlined in the survey office Quality procedure, are added to the Register and may be selected to undertake crown cadastral surveys.
The survey office achieved certification to the ISO 9002 standard for quality systems in September 1995, thereby formalising its commitment to fostering the adoption of Quality Assurance principles throughout the survey industry. This emphasis on quality has facilitated increased outsourcing of government survey work to private survey firms and significantly reduced ‘in house’ examination of outsourced surveys surveys by providing the Surveyor General with ‘confidence’ in surveys performed by the private sector.
Part of the QA process is an audit process designed to monitor and improve survey industry standards. In order to maintain a quality approach throughout the industry, a percentage of surveys performed undergo a full field and office examination conducted by the survey office. The surveyor is provided with feedback on the audit and the Surveyors Board, the regulatory body of industry, is provided with a summary of the audits.
The replacement of full office examination of all surveys with selective audits has not led to a diminution in the general standard and consistency of information supplied by the surveying profession. Quality Assurance has therefore enabled the survey office to not only shift much of the responsibility for the accuracy and correctness of survey work back to the surveyor, but to also reduce risk relating to the survey component of the land tenure system.
Reform of Regulations and Legislation
The Victorian experience has highlighted that the delivery of cadastral reform in a consistent manner on a number of levels requires that the regulatory framework both reflects and actively facilitates reform objectives. The introduction of the 1995 Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations serves to illustrate the role that regulatory reform can play in generating cadastral change.
The 1995 Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations were framed so as to facilitate the movement from a ‘prescriptive’ regulatory environment that established specific requirements and inputs to an ‘enabling’ regulatory environment that focuses on outcomes. The aim of the new regulations was to shift much of the regulatory responsibility back to the surveyor by requiring that the licensed surveyor applies greater professional judgement in satisfying professional standards rather than relying on regulatory requirements designed to ensure compliance with those standards.
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, the 1995 regulations do not require that equipment is calibrated within a certain timeframe, but only that equipment meets minimum accuracy requirements. The frequency with which equipment needs to be calibrated in order to satisfy those accuracy standards is determined by the surveyor.
It has been found that licensed surveyors have accepted this responsibility and, for example, are calibrating equipment to the same or greater frequency as under the previous regulations. The regulatory framework can therefore be designed to encourage the exercising of professional judgement by licensed surveyors so that greater responsibility for professional standards rests with the profession rather than government. The introduction of Quality Assurance requirements by the survey office as outlined above demonstrates that this increased emphasis on professional responsibility contributes to improvements in the overall standard of survey work performed by the industry.
The primary legislation regulating cadastral surveyors and surveys, (The Surveyors Act 1978 and The Survey Co-ordination Act 1958) are currently in the process of being reviewed in order to streamline the regulatory framework, reduce the burden of unnecessary regulation on industry and generate improvement in the overall competitiveness of the Victorian economy.
An important driver of this legislative reform is the implementation of a National Competition Policy agreed to by the Federal and State Governments within Australia. The principle aims of this policy are to facilitate effective competition in the interests of economic efficiency while accommodating situations where competition does not achieve economic efficiency or conflicts with other social objectives.
One facet of this policy is that all existing and new legislation is required to meet the following guiding legislative principles:
Legislation should not restrict competition unless it can be demonstrated that -
National Competition Policy subsequently necessitates a total re-examination of the role of government in the regulation of cadastral surveying and consideration of how to best ensure the continued integrity and efficiency of the Victorian cadastre using minimal regulation. The development of new legislation will utilise stakeholder input and recognise any relevant changes that have occurred in the nature and capacity of survey technology and in education and training. New legislation is expected to be introduced in late 1998.
Consequently, regulatory reform, which is often initiated for other reasons, can be an important component of cadastral reform, providing scope for greater self-regulation by industry and contributing to improvements in professional standards.
TECHNICAL IMPACT
Technical developments are ensuring that a greater range of survey methods are becoming available which present significant cadastral reform opportunities and challenges.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
GPS is proving to be a highly efficient measuring system that can be applied in all areas of surveying. However, significant difficulties arise from the use of GPS when making legal surveys in that there has been no readily available cadastral methodology of tracing the measurements back to a recognised value standard. In other words, it has been difficult to demonstrate in a legal framework that the measurements are what they purport to be. In Australia, this concept is known as ‘legal traceability’.
Legal traceability for tapes and EDM is maintained by comparison with a standard (tape or calibrated base line), which in turn is calibrated by a ‘recognised transfer standard’, that is, one whose calibration can be traced back to the National standard for the metre.
In Australia it has now been recognised by the Australian Standards Commission that the ‘recognised value standard’ for GPS measurement should be the Australian Fudicial Network (AFN). The AFN consists of 8 marks throughout Australia and they are the fundamental marks for the Australian Geodetic Network. Each mark is highly stable and is monitored by a continuously operating GPS.
This recognised value standard will be cascaded down through the Australian National Network of 78 marks to the National Adjustment consisting of over 7000 marks. This provides a readily available network for ensuring that the GPS equipment is operating correctly.
The recognised value standard, when combined with integrity monitoring of the GPS System (to ensure all the system is operating satisfactorily) and best practice guidelines (to ensure equipment operation is satisfactory) enables legal traceability for GPS measurements to be established.
Despite the lack of formal procedures for establishing legal traceability, there has been some pressure to accept GPS measurements for cadastral surveys. The need to maintain a flexible, efficient cadastral system without compromising its integrity has required interim arrangements. Currently, a high degree of redundancy is required in the measurement together with comparisons against other measurements such as those in the geodetic network, or by EDM.
Whilst this degrades the efficiency of GPS, it has allowed its introduction into the cadastral area without fear of compromising the integrity of the cadastre. In many cases, GPS has proved to be more efficient than alternative approaches.
GPS also provides an opportunity to establish a state-wide reference framework based on differential GPS. A series of base stations will be established to give a reference framework of uniform accuracy across Victoria. This will allow all cadastral surveys to be accurately positioned with consequential ability to upgrade the State Digital Map Base. Victoria is actively investigating this option.
The geodetic network is therefore becoming an essential element of the cadastral framework and the adoption of geodetic related technologies is providing another avenue for cadastral reform.
Photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is not a new tool, but its application to cadastral surveys has been limited to date in Victoria due to high set up costs and the need to mark boundaries on the ground. However, a flexible approach and a clear understanding of the critical matters affecting the cadastre can provide an opportunity to utilise photogrammetry as an effective and efficient tool.
In some situations, for example the survey of forest plantations, placing pegs on boundaries serves little purpose if they will be destroyed (earthworks etc.) in the near future or never utilised by the land owner. In such cases, photogrammetry may serve as an effective tool to accurately determine boundary dimensions. The integrity of the cadastre is maintained through the use of conventional survey techniques where boundaries with photogrammetrically derived dimensions connect to existing cadastral boundaries.
CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY
Given the nature, depth and speed of cadastral reform, there is a need to fundamentally change the customer interface. This is not merely intended to maintain existing service levels in a changed environment, but to transform them.
The introduction and continual development of electronic service delivery mechanisms and related technologies has provided an avenue through which a digital cadastral environment is emerging. This digital environment carries with it enormous scope for reform in relation to the delivery of cadastral services to customers.
Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES)
The Survey Marks Enquiry Service (SMES) is a Windows based on-line enquiry service, the first system of its type in Australia/New Zealand, to deliver both textual and imaged survey mark data to the customer at their workplace.
SMES came on-line in March 1996 and provides customers with electronic access to Victoria’s 120 000 survey mark sketch plans including height and/or co-ordinates. Internet access, a Map Base graphical interface to assist with searching and capacity for the digital lodgement of survey information are included.
Prior to the introduction of SMES, survey mark information was sent by post or facsimile to customers following a written request to the Central Plan Office. Staff would need to undertake a manual search of paper records in order to provide the survey mark information to customers and the average turn-around time for each request was two to three working days.
SMES now allows customers to easily identify those marks which are required for their surveys, download information about them, and print that information locally. A customer can typically have survey mark information on their computer screen within a few seconds and a print within minutes, regardless of location.
The simpler and improved access to data that SMES provides has increased the usage rate of that data and improved the quality of surveys based on the data. The provision of quick and easy access to accurate information enables SMES to facilitate cheaper, faster, better and more complete surveys.
In addition to providing information, SMES is also designed to receive information from users regarding damaged or inaccurate survey marks. This feedback mechanism empowers surveyors to make improvements to the quality of survey mark data and facilitates a greater industry role in the provision of the survey mark framework.
Consequently, in providing a new level of customer service, SMES produces cadastral reform by facilitating improvements to the cadastral framework and generating stronger connections to the geodetic network. This leads to enhanced absolute positioning capabilities and better links to the State Digital Map Base - Cadastral (SDMB-C) which then enables improved upgrading of the Map Base in order to retain accuracy.
Land-Related Information On-Line (Land Channel)
Land Registry is currently converting land titles from paper to digital format to enable land dealings information to be delivered remotely through an on-line electronic Land Channel. This will support an entirely automated process of dealing with land early next century and will allow for the digital lodgement of survey and subdivisional plans and other land dealings information by December 1998.
State Digital Map Base-Cadastral (SDMB-C)
As part of the Victorian Government’s broader strategy to outsource operational activities, the management, maintenance and distribution of the entire SDMB-C has been contracted out to the private sector. The management, maintenance, storage and distribution of the metropolitan cadastral base had previously been outsourced in 1995, however the new arrangements require the contractor to bring together the data structures of both components (metropolitan and rural) of the SDMB-C, and manage and maintain 2.3 million records.
Since 1995, the mapping office has required firms contracted to provide services relating to the management and maintenance of the SDMB-C to demonstrate adherence to quality principles. In addition, audits of supplied data have been undertaken to ensure the integrity of the SDMB-C.
The examples provided demonstrate that new opportunities for cadastral reform can be created through the integration of land related data sets and the provision of improved accessibility to information.
CADASTRAL REFORM IN ACTION
Reform in Action
In Victoria, a multidimensional approach to cadastral reform has produced concrete benefits on a number of levels. In order to achieve maximum practical benefit from such reform, Land Registry has sought, where possible, to combine the components of reform when undertaking survey project work.
Land Registry utilised amendments to survey related legislation and applied photogrammetry and GPS techniques in order to more effectively project manage contract surveys of 160 000 hectares of pine plantations. This new approach enabled the project timeframes and cost to be reduced from initial estimates of 5 years and $5m to 18 months and $1.6m.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Co-ordinated Cadastre
The improved positional accuracy of the cadastre that is generated through the adoption of geodetic related technologies may lead, in due course, to some type of
co-ordinated cadastre. This may allow for the Digital Cadastral Map becoming the title diagram, the use of co-ordinates to define groups of allotments bounded by roads, or for a full co-ordinated cadastre in which measurements always prevail over monuments.
The adopted Victorian approach does not preclude any of these options. Such an approach provides opportunity for a cost-benefit analysis of a co-ordinated cadastre to be conducted at an appropriate time in the future.
Training of Cadastral Surveyors
At present, the registration of licensed surveyors by the Surveyors Board of Victoria is dependant upon two related but separate processes involving education and training.
Firstly, the Surveyors Board accredits and audits courses provided by the educational institutions for undergraduate surveying students.
Secondly, after having graduated, the Surveyors Board requires that the graduate enter into a training agreement with the ‘Master Surveyor’ based on total quality principles. The Surveyors Board audits training agreements to ensure adherence to quality principles. Periodic audits of surveys are undertaken following the registration of surveyors.
In conjunction with a local tertiary institution, Land Registry is actively examining the development of a post-graduate program to improve the current Surveyors Board training agreement. The program would aim to provide trainee surveyors with the most recent knowledge and skills relating to advanced elements of cadastral surveying and cadastral systems, with particular emphasis on practical experience.
Under the program, industry members who are leaders in their field would be encouraged to perform a greater role in the practical training of surveyors and lecturers and tutors would be drawn from the academic, private and public sectors. It is expected that the program would consist of approximately eight weekends of practical classes with demonstrations conducted by industry.
An advantage of the proposed program is that it would allow trainees to continue working while undertaking the course. Trainee surveyors undertaking the post-graduate course would be granted an exemption from part of the practical component of the current training agreement.
The program would be relatively flexible and include aspects of management and Quality Assurance. The course, or components of it, could also be offered to practising surveyors who wish to upgrade their expertise, or who wish to specialise in a particular area.
CONCLUSION
Cadastral reform can produce change on a number of levels that subsequently provide maximum scope for delivering increased efficiencies in the land tenure system while ensuring its continued integrity.
Organisational integration, Quality system mechanisms, regulatory reform and geodetic related technologies have been combined in order to encourage the survey profession to assume greater responsibility for survey outcomes. This approach to cadastral reform has generated improvements in the quality of surveys, reduced associated costs and timeframes and is facilitating the provision of new land information services to customers and the public.
Consequently, various ‘change instruments’ can be employed by land agencies in the pursuit of cadastral reform. The experience of Land Victoria demonstrates that the adoption of a multidimensional approach to cadastral reform is most likely to ensure that such pursuit is rewarded with a cadastre best able to meet requirements of the next century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hilmer. F, 1993 National Competition Policy Review. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Parker. J, 1997 The Role of Quality Assurance in the Surveying Industry within Australia. iKusasa CONSAS’97 Proceedings.
Parker. J, Birrell. S, Barry. J, & D. Hall, 1995 Is The Torrens System Suitable for the 21st Century? 2010 Vision - New Zealand Australia Cadastral Conference 1995.
Parker. J, 1990 The Role of Total Quality Management in Cadastral Reform - with Reference to Survey Regulation, in National Conference on Cadastral Reform 1990.
Surveyors Board of Victoria 1993 Guidelines to Support Surveyors (Registration) Regulations 1992.
Williams. P, 1996 Victorian Plantations Corporation Project. Crown Grants for VPC. Victorian Regional Surveyors Conference 1996.
Wood. S, & Kentish. P, 1994 Quality Management - A New Interface Between Governments and Cadastral Surveyors, in Proceedings of the XX F.I.G. Congress.