Survey and Mapping Infrastructure Act 2003

The Act directly affects:

• Licensed surveyors, surveying associates and surveying graduates conducting surveys in Queensland.
• Cadastral surveyors, who must provide copies of survey plans to the chief executive within 40 business days of placing a survey mark (section 16).
• Landowners and occupiers, who may be asked to consent to surveyors placing permanent marks on their land (section 21(2)), and who must not interfere with survey marks.
• Government agencies and local governments that rely on State datasets for land administration, electoral boundaries and service planning.
• Persons holding land with tidal or non-tidal boundaries, whose legal title boundaries may be affected by the rules in Part 7.
• Mining tenement holders, petroleum tenement holders, and other resource tenure holders, who are listed in section 21 as persons whose consent is needed before a surveyor can place a permanent mark on the tenured land.

Indirectly, the Act affects every Queensland landowner, because the State digital cadastral dataset and the survey control register underpin the accuracy of the whole Queensland property registration system.

Surveyors, surveying associates and surveying graduates must carry out surveys in compliance with any applicable survey standards (Part 3, Division 1). Failure to comply with a survey standard is an offence attracting a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units.

Cadastral surveyors must, within 40 business days after placing a survey mark in a cadastral survey, give the chief executive a copy of the plan of survey (section 16(1)), unless the surveyor lodges the plan in the land registry within the same period (section 16(2)). Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.

Surveyors placing permanent survey marks outside State surveys must give the chief executive a copy of the permanent survey mark plan within 40 business days after placing the mark, or at the time of lodging a plan of survey in the land registry if that occurs first (section 15). Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.

Persons required to provide information and data for State datasets under Part 5, Division 2 must provide that information in the approved manner and within any required timeframe.

Persons given a direction to maintain a recognised permanent survey mark under Part 4, Division 2 must comply with that direction.

Chief executive powers: The chief executive may make survey standards (section 7) and survey guidelines (section 8). The chief executive may grant exemptions from a survey standard on application (section 19), with or without conditions. Refusal or a conditional grant is reviewable by the Minister within 30 business days of the decision notice.

Surveyor's powers of entry: A surveyor may enter State land, land vested in or controlled by the State, or roads at any reasonable time to carry out a survey or place a permanent survey mark (section 22(1)). Entry to freehold or tenured land requires the owner's or occupier's consent under section 21(2), and the surveyor must identify themselves and state the purpose before entry (section 23). Entry to buildings or other structures where a person resides is not authorised (section 22(2)).

After entry, a surveyor may carry out the survey, place survey marks, inspect existing survey marks, dig or bore land to a reasonable depth, cut vegetation to enable the survey, and take water from a watercourse (section 24). Any damage caused must be remedied as soon as practicable.

Chief executive's power to establish administrative area boundaries: Where the description of an administrative area boundary is ambiguous or the delineation on a plan differs from the description, the Act provides default rules for resolution (Part 6, Division 2).

Tidal boundary declarations: Under Part 7, the chief executive may make declarations about tidal boundary locations and the classifications of tidal boundaries. These declarations are reviewable under Part 7, Division 6.

Minister's power to review: The Minister reviews decisions by the chief executive on exemption applications (section 20). The Minister's decision on review is taken to be the chief executive's decision.

The Act's primary enforcement mechanism is a suite of offences carrying maximum penalties of 20 penalty units. Key offences include:

• Failing to give the chief executive a permanent survey mark plan within the required time (section 15). Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
• Failing to give the chief executive a copy of a plan of survey within 40 business days of placing a survey mark in a cadastral survey (section 16). Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
• Failing to comply with a survey standard (Part 3, Division 1).
• Interfering with, removing or destroying a recognised permanent survey mark without authority (Part 4, Division 3).
• Giving false or misleading information in connection with the Act.

The penalty unit value applies as set by applicable Queensland legislation. There are no criminal imprisonment terms visible in the provisions examined; penalties are monetary.

Enforcement is primarily administrative through the surveying and land administration system rather than through police powers. Surveyors are licensed professionals subject to professional disciplinary regimes that operate alongside this Act.

Lodgement of survey plans after cadastral survey: 40 business days after placing or supervising placement of a survey mark (section 16(1)).

Permanent survey mark plan after a non-State survey: The earlier of the time of lodging a plan of survey in the land registry or giving the chief executive a plan of survey (if within 40 days of placement), or 40 business days after placement if neither of those occurs (section 15(3)).

Exemption from survey standard review: An applicant who receives a refused or conditional grant has 30 business days to apply to the Minister for review (section 19(2)(c)).

Minister's review of exemption decisions: Must be completed and notice given to the applicant "as soon as practicable" after receiving the review application (section 20(1)).

The Act is closely integrated with Queensland's land administration system:

• Land Act 1994 (Qld): Survey marks may be placed on land subject to Land Act leases, licences and permits (section 21(2)(b)). Administrative area boundary definitions may reference surveys lodged under the Land Act (section 57(1)(b)(v)). The survey control database under the predecessor Survey Act is deemed to form part of the survey control register (section 139).
• Land Title Act 1994 (Qld): Cadastral surveyors may satisfy their plan-lodgement obligation by lodging in the land registry under the Land Title Act (section 16(2)). Boundary plans may reference surveys lodged under this Act (section 57).
• Mineral Resources Act 1989, Petroleum Act 1923, Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009, Geothermal Energy Act 2010: Holders of tenures under these Acts must consent before a surveyor can place a permanent mark on the tenured land (section 21(2)(b)).
• Native Title Act 1993 (Cth): Two stored cases ([2017] FCA 1637 and [2017] FCA 1511) are native title consent determination cases that reference Queensland cadastral and boundary information, suggesting that the State digital cadastral dataset maintained under this Act feeds into native title claim boundary determinations. These connections are candidate-unverified as far as direct statutory interaction is concerned.
• Administrative Boundaries Terminology Act 1985 (Qld) (repealed) and Survey Coordination Act 1952 (Qld) (repealed): Section 142 repeals both Acts. Section 140 preserves the effect of references to the Administrative Boundaries Terminology Act, and section 141 preserves references to the repealed Survey Act, by deeming them to refer to the current Act.

Survey standards versus survey guidelines. The distinction between mandatory standards and discretionary guidelines is important. A surveyor relying on a guideline alone where a standard applies commits an offence. The chief executive can grant exemptions from standards, but the process takes time, and conditions may limit the exemption.

Consent requirements for private land. A surveyor cannot simply enter freehold or tenured land to place permanent marks: the owner or occupier must consent (section 21(2)). However, the entry power (section 22(1)) allows entry to carry out a survey (which is broader than placing marks) on freehold land if the land falls within a category under section 21(2). This creates an asymmetry: a surveyor can enter with consent to carry out a survey, but cannot place a permanent mark without the specific consent in section 21(2).

Tidal boundary rules are location-specific. Part 7 creates a difference between specified and unspecified tidal boundaries. The classification depends on what the original source material said when the title was created. For coastal property owners, the boundary type determines which legal rules apply to boundary movements over time. Misclassifying the boundary type can have significant title consequences.

Dataset discrepancies may not be immediately correctable. The State digital cadastral dataset is derived from lodged survey plans and other sources, but the Act does not guarantee that the dataset is always current or that discrepancies will be corrected immediately. Prudent users of the dataset should verify against lodged plans in the land registry.

Transitional provisions preserve old survey standards. Under section 143, survey standards and guidelines in effect immediately before the commencement of the 2023 transitional provisions continue in effect as if made under the current Act. Users should not assume that only standards formally made after 2023 are operative.

Cadastral survey for subdivision: A registered cadastral surveyor completing a residential subdivision in Queensland must place survey marks on the new lot boundaries, carry out the survey to the applicable survey standards, and give the chief executive a plan of survey within 40 business days of placing the marks (section 16). If the surveyor lodges the plan in the land registry within that period, the separate notification obligation to the chief executive is satisfied at the same time.

Mining company needing access for survey: A mining company tenement holder whose land includes an exploration permit area must give consent before a surveyor can place a recognised permanent survey mark on the tenured land (section 21(2)(b)(ii)). If the company refuses consent, the surveyor cannot place the mark on that land.

Tidal boundary dispute: A coastal landowner near Moreton Bay challenges the location of the boundary between their land and the State. Part 7 requires determining whether the tidal boundary is a specified or unspecified boundary based on the original source material (section 71). The five criteria in section 72 then govern where the boundary must be. A chief executive declaration can be sought and reviewed under Part 7, Division 6 if the landowner disputes the determination.

Ambiguous local government boundary: A local council discovers that its boundary description in an establishment instrument is inconsistent with the delineation on the boundary plan. Part 6, Division 2 applies to resolve the ambiguity, with the chief executive's interpretation of the boundary prevailing subject to review.