Geoscience Australia is a

statutory agency A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

of the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

that carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on aspects of geoscience, and serves as the repository of geographic and geological data collated by the Commonwealth. On a

user pays User pays, or beneficiary pays, is a pricing approach based on the idea that the most efficient allocation (and consumption) of resources occurs when consumers pay the full cost of the goods that they consume. In public finance it stands in oppo ...

basis, the agency offers geospatial services, including

topographic maps In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

and

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

. It is also a major contributor to the Australian Government's free,

open data Open data are data that are openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shareable by anyone for any purpose. Open data are generally licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-so ...

collections such as and .

Strategic priorities

The agency has six strategic priority areas: # building Australia's resource wealth in order to maximise benefits from Australia's minerals and

energy resources World energy resources are the estimated maximum capacity for energy production given all available resources on Earth. They can be divided by type into fossil fuel, nuclear fuel and renewable resources. Fossil fuel Remaining reserves of fo ...

, now and into the future; # ensuring Australia's community safety so that Australian communities are more resilient to natural hazards; # securing Australia's water resources in order to optimise and sustain the use of Australia's water resources; # managing Australia's marine jurisdictions in order to maximise benefits from the sustainable use of Australia's marine jurisdiction; # providing fundamental geographic information in order to understand the location and timing of processes, activities and changes across Australia to inform decision-making for both natural and built environments; and # maintaining geoscience knowledge and capability in order to maintain an enduring and accessible knowledge base and capability to enable evidence-based policy and decision-making by government, industry and the community.

History

Geoscience Australia came into being in 2001 when the

Australian Surveying and Land Information Group Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG) was an Australian organization that merged in 2001 with the Australian Geological Survey Organization to become Geoscience Australia. Its headquarters building was located in Canberra, F ...

(AUSLIG) merged with the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO). Its history dates back almost to the Federation in 1901 when it was decided to set aside land for the national capital. This decision led to the establishment of the Australian Survey Office in 1910, when surveying began for the Australian Capital Territory. AUSLIG's main function was to provide national geographic information. It was formed in 1987 when the Australian Survey Office joined with the Division of National Mapping, which was formed in 1947. Another important component of AUSLIG was the provision of satellite imagery to industry and government, started by the Australian Landsat Station in 1979, and renamed the Australian Centre for Remote Sensing (ACRES) in 1986. AGSO's predecessor organisation the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics (BMR) was established in 1946; with the name changing to AGSO in 1992. The BMR was a geological survey with the main objective being the systematic geological and geophysical mapping of the continent as the basis for informed

mineral exploration Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

.Geoscience Australia
National Library of Australia, ''Trove, People and Organisation'' record for Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia's activities have expanded and today it has responsibility for meeting the Australian Government's geoscience requirements. This role takes the Agency well beyond its historic focus on resource development and topographic mapping to topics as diverse as natural hazards such as tsunamis and earthquakes, environmental issues, including the impacts of climate change, groundwater research, marine and coastal research,

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a long-term storage location.IPCC, 2021Annex VII: Glossary at ...

and vegetation monitoring as well as Earth observations from space. Geoscience Australia's remit also extends beyond the Australian landmass to Australia's vast marine jurisdiction.

Summary of predecessor agencies

Facilities

It has a free place name search and its earthquake monitoring services can be freely accessed. The Library is the premier geoscience library in Australia providing services to geoscience organisations, universities, research centres, the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and petroleum industries and the public.

Economic Demonstrated Resources

Geoscience Australia defines ''Economic Demonstrated Resources'' (EDR) as For EDR, tonnages and grades are computed from samples of the resource taken from points spaced to provide assured resource continuity.

References

External links

Geoscience Australia home page

Geoscience Australia Data Discovery Portal

Geoscience Australia Geological Digital Twin

Community and Education Geoscience Discovery Digital Atlas

Australian Mines Atlas

Atlas of Australian Mine Waste

Australian Fundamental Gravity Network (AFGN)

AusSeabed Marine Data Portal

Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative

Geochronology and Isotopes Data Portal

Geophysical Archive Data Delivery System (GADDS)

AusH2 - Australia's Hydrogen Opportunities Tool

MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative

Positioning Australia National Positioning Infrastructure

Geoscience Australia in Google Cultural Institute

As the cocky flies
distance calculator *

International Map of the World The International Map of the World (IMW; also the Millionth Map of the World, after its scale of 1:1000000) was a project to create a complete map of the world according to internationally agreed standards. It was first proposed by the German g ...

XNATMAP's home page preserving NATMAP's (The Division of National Mapping) history and maintaining contact with the people who were part of that history
{{Authority control Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Geography of Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Geological surveys of Australia National mapping agencies Earth sciences organizations