General

Bioregional Assessments

Summary

The Bioregional Assessment Program was undertaken by the Australian government in order to better understand the potential impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mining developments on water resources and water-dependent assets, such as rivers, wetlands and groundwater systems.

The assessments focus on selected areas across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. These states are the four signatory states under the National Partnership Agreement on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development. The assessments provide a risk analysis that identifies areas where potential impacts are likely to occur. Just as important, the assessments also identify areas where impacts are unlikely to occur. This allows governments, industry and the community to focus on these areas when making regulatory, water management and planning decisions.

FSDF datasets used: National Topographic Data, National Surface Hydrology, National elevation (SRTM-derived 1 second DEM), Medium scale Imagery (Water Observations from Space), National Catchment Boundaries, Dynamic Land Cover Dataset

Non FSDF Datasets used: National Surface Geology

Date

Friday, 27 October, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Bureau of Meteorology

CSIRO

Department of Environment and Energy

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

Strengthening the science underpinning future decisions, the bioregional assessments provided a previously unavailable objective basis for government, communities and industry to consider when debating potential cumulative impacts of coal seam gas and coal mining developments and adaptive management strategies. Australia is the first country in the world to gather and consolidate such a wide range of detailed information to help inform cumulative impact assessments on a whole-of-region scale.

The assessments will inform Commonwealth and state government decisions in approving and regulating coal seam gas and coal mining operations. For example, bioregional assessments are a source of information that the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development can use to formulate their advice to the Australian Government on decisions under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and to state government regulators under relevant state legislation. Development proponents can use the information in writing environmental impact statements for coal seam gas and coal mining proposals.

The bioregional assessments will also be used to identify data and knowledge gaps where further information is required before development applications proceed.

IAG Insurance Australia Group : Open G-NAF

Summary

Using the openly available G-NAF, IAG has become the first insurer in Australia to release a national dataset containing a view of flood risk across Australia; to enable customers to assess their level of financial risk due to flooding.

IAG has done this as the insurance industry is uniquely positioned to relate physical hazards to financial risk through its exposure and claims data.

Problem: Insurance customers can underestimate their exposure to flood risks and not have appropriate insurance cover.

Solution: The IAG Flood Risk Dataset can inform insurance choices based on risk probabilities. It uses a combination of IAG modelling, industry sourced data, and local and state government data.

The risk is based on two factors, how severe the flooding is and how often the property is likely to be flooded. The High, Medium and Low risk bands describe the financial risk.

This information is best used to identify regions where residential communities are exposed to flooding. The dataset assesses flood risk for 88% of all addresses nationally.

Date

Thursday, 30 March, 2017

Contact

Insurance Australia Group

Benefit Realised

IAG is informing the general public on flood risk at their property and their surrounding communities by:

improving awareness of flood risk to property owners and communities;
improving the communication of risk and coordination between the general public, government agencies and industry;
inviting new innovations in the communication and visualisation of risk; and
increasing community resilience by ensuring customers have appropriate levels of insurance.

Addressing and the Australian Business Register

Summary

The Australian Business Register (ABR) is a whole-of-government program that works collaboratively across government and industry to store details about businesses and organisations when they register for an Australian business number. The ABR is recognised nationally as a valuable asset and is used by the community and government daily to identify and verify business information and plan for infrastructure and service delivery.

Problem: Addresses need to be validated for internal service portals and when new registrations are created online.

Solution: Integrate the openly available G-NAF into the online process to use single-line address validation to verify addresses entered in real time. A 3rd party provided address validation service is used.

Date

Thursday, 30 March, 2017

Contact

Australian Taxation Office

Version

1.00

Benefit Realised

As a result of the process, a high proportion (92%) of the 7+ million existing ABNs on the ABR were verified and geocoded and ABN registrations can now be processed as they are submitted online.

Realising the benefits of precise positioning: Road Transport

Summary

Precise positioning technology offers an exciting opportunity for all Australians. The ability to identify a location anywhere in Australia with a real-time accuracy of three centimetres enables a range of activities to be conducted more efficiently, from growing crops to constructing roads and navigating transport networks. The industries that have been early adopters have already realised the benefits of their investment — economically, environmentally and socially.

Widespread access to precise positioning technology is estimated to boost the national economy by between $7.8 and $13.72 billion1 by 2020. Geoscience Australia is playing an important role in fostering the uptake and ongoing development of this technology through the National Positioning Infrastructure Capability.

This program will establish the necessary infrastructure on the ground that provides the foundation for the technology.

The National Positioning Infrastructure Capability will ensure all Australians have an opportunity to access continuous, reliable and precise positioning information.

To better understand these benefits and how this technology is currently being used in Australia, read the five case studies. They provide a snapshot of the new and innovative uses that will continue to arise as the technology continues to evolve and more industries get involved.

[1] ACIL Allen Consulting, 2013, The value of augmented GNSS in Australia., Accessed 24 August 2015.

Date

Wednesday, 22 March, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

...Saves time and money

Uptake of precise positioning technology in the road transport sector has significantly increased in recent years to address the growing challenges of congestion, accessibility and rising fuel prices. Managing and optimising route selection ensures that road freight arrives on time and with greater fuel efficiency — both of which translate into significant cost savings.

...Helps make roads safer

Driver safety is of paramount importance in the road transport sector. Precise positioning enables the vehicle's location to be identified with greater accuracy and certainty to better manage driver fatigue and transport mobility. These benefits extend to other modes of transport, including increased safety and efficiency across air, rail and maritime networks.

Realising the benefits of precise positioning: Agriculture

Summary

This program will establish the necessary infrastructure on the ground that provides the foundation for the technology.

The National Positioning Infrastructure Capability will ensure all Australians have an opportunity to access continuous, reliable and precise positioning information.

[1] ACIL Allen Consulting, 2013, The value of augmented GNSS in Australia., Accessed 24 August 2015.

Date

Wednesday, 22 March, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

...Improves yield

Grain and cotton growers have readily adopted precise positioning technology for controlled traffic farming and interrow sowing activities. It enables tractors to be accurately guided along designated wheel tracks, maximising the cropping area and, as a result, improving yields.

...Reduces waste

Accurate guiding of machinery allows seeds to be sown precisely between rows, meaning inputs such as water, fertiliser and herbicide can be applied directly over the crop with less wastage. This negates the need to clear crop stubble from previous harvests, bringing additional cost savings to the farmer.

...Benefits the environment

Precise application of inputs has important environmental benefits. There is less risk of chemicals entering waterways and degrading water quality. Following the same wheel tracks means there is less damage to the soil.

Realising the benefits of precise positioning: Construction

Summary

This program will establish the necessary infrastructure on the ground that provides the foundation for the technology.

The National Positioning Infrastructure Capability will ensure all Australians have an opportunity to access continuous, reliable and precise positioning information.

[1] ACIL Allen Consulting, 2013, The value of augmented GNSS in Australia., Accessed 24 August 2015.

Date

Wednesday, 22 March, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

Version

1.00

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

...Reduces costs

Accurate information is vital for the construction sector. Precise positioning technology was embraced quickly for site surveying, machine guidance and asset management activities as every small increase in accuracy translates easily into cost savings.

...Saves time

Precise positioning technology allows site surveying to be better integrated with building activities and ensures earth moving equipment is guided precisely to plan. Operational efficiencies have a significant impact on reducing project timelines.

...Benefits the community

Greater site control has important social benefits. Construction sites can be made safer through continuous tracking of personnel and equipment. Completing projects on time means less disruption to public access roads and footpaths.

Realising the benefits of precise positioning: Construction

Summary

This program will establish the necessary infrastructure on the ground that provides the foundation for the technology.

The National Positioning Infrastructure Capability will ensure all Australians have an opportunity to access continuous, reliable and precise positioning information.

[1] ACIL Allen Consulting, 2013, The value of augmented GNSS in Australia., Accessed 24 August 2015.

Date

Wednesday, 22 March, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

Version

1.00

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

...Reduces costs

...Saves time

...Benefits the community

Realising the benefits of precise positioning: Mining

Summary

This program will establish the necessary infrastructure on the ground that provides the foundation for the technology.

The National Positioning Infrastructure Capability will ensure all Australians have an opportunity to access continuous, reliable and precise positioning information.

[1] ACIL Allen Consulting, 2013, The value of augmented GNSS in Australia., Accessed 24 August 2015.

http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/positioning-navigation/positionin...

Date

Wednesday, 22 March, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping

Version

1.00

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

Increases returns

The mining industry has been an early adopter in the use of precise positioning technology. Positioning plays a role in all activities along the production chain, from site surveying to extracting deposits, boosting the industry's productivity and profitability along the way.

Saves time

Precise positioning technology allows drilling equipment to extract resources in exact locations in accordance with mine plans and identified mineral deposits. It also allows mining operators to safely identify the location of trucks at any point in time, what they are carrying and where it is being deposited.

Benefits the environment

Precise positioning information enables site surveying to be conducted with a high level of accuracy, ensuring areas of environmental or cultural significance are safeguarded.

Murray Darling Basin LiDAR

Summary

MDBA’s primary purpose for the acquisition of this LiDAR is to assist in the modelling of environmental water flows and consequent inundation of floodplains. As the models generated from the LiDAR need to accurately model the flow of water, investment must be made in aligning vertical control to the geoid.

Objectives

Deliver high-resolution elevation products to the MDBA by establishing a working storage, processing and delivery system managed by Geoscience Australia. This system will build on existing investment in the National Elevation Data Framework and align to the Australian and New Zealand Foundation Spatial Data Framework, ensuring enduring discovery and access of

foundation elevation data for government, industry, research and community. Improve the content of the national elevation dataset by integrating existing and new LiDAR data acquired over high-priority areas from the Basin.

Date

Friday, 17 February, 2017

Agency/Working Group or Committee

Geoscience Australia

Version

1.00

Associated Stakeholder or System

Murray Darling Basin Authority

Benefit Realised

Three-dimensional maps that will be used to accurately model water flows and the pattern of floodplain inundation.

The information will also be useful to local councils, engineers, Catchment Management Authorities and others with an interest in land and water management.

Implement a high-performance elevation data model and build discoverable and accessible services for point cloud (LAS) and gridded elevation data that allow for efficient discovery and maximises accessibility of national elevation and bathymetry data within the high-performance computational infrastructure at the ANU NCI. Develop a workbench to derive National blended DEM from best available data.

The National Exposure Information System (NEXIS)

Summary

The National Exposure Information System is a unique capability developed by Geoscience Australia to estimate the number, cost and characteristics of the people, buildings and infrastructure potentially impacted by a man-made or natural event.
http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/hazards/risk-impact/nexis

Date

Thursday, 16 February, 2017

Version

1.00

Associated Stakeholder or System

Geoscience Australia

Benefit Realised

NEXIS services a number of clients including the insurance sector. This benefit is focusing on the Crisis Coordination Centre.

Since 2012, GA has been providing spatial support and advice to the Crisis Coordination Centre (CCC) within Emergency Management Australia (EMA) as part of our collaboration with the Attorney-General’s Department.

A key information requirement identified by EMA was the need to quickly understand what is in an event area. To address this requirement GA designed the Exposure Report which greatly simplifies the interpretation of exposure information for timely emergency response and recovery decision-making.

The Exposure Report is generated by extracting the relevant attributes from NEXIS such as population and building estimates, agricultural commodities and building costs, and infrastructure counts in the potentially threatened area. This automated process quickly presents the required information in a clear and easily accessible report detailing estimates of what exists in the event area.

By improving the timeliness and accuracy of information used by the CCC, GA has enhanced the government’s ability to respond to disaster and activate appropriate financial assistance for recovery.

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General

...Saves time and money

...Helps make roads safer

...Improves yield

...Reduces waste

...Benefits the environment

...Reduces costs

...Saves time

...Benefits the community

...Reduces costs

...Saves time

...Benefits the community

Increases returns

Saves time

Benefits the environment

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