The Act’s primary subjects are individuals who wish to practise as land or mining surveyors. Only natural persons may be registered (s 10(3)(a)); firms may offer surveying services only if the actual surveying work is performed by registered surveyors or properly supervised students or assistants (s 22A). Students of surveying, surveyors’ assistants and survey drafters are expressly carved out of the prohibition on unregistered practice provided they work under the prescribed degree of supervision (ss 21(3), 22(3)).

Public authorities—including Public Service agencies, local councils, State-owned corporations and statutory bodies representing the Crown—are directly regulated. They must carry out surveys by reference to the statutory datums and in accordance with the regulations (s 5), supply survey information to the Surveyor-General when directed (s 6), maintain permanent survey marks on land they control (s 9), and may have their surveys adjusted by the Surveyor-General for consistency with the State control survey (s 8).

The Surveyor-General and the Registrar of the Board hold statutory offices and exercise significant powers. The Surveyor-General maintains the State control survey, the register of public surveys, may direct public authorities, issue certificates under s 9B, correct errors, and delegate functions (ss 4, 6, 7, 9A, 9B, 33A). The Registrar maintains the register of surveyors and issues evidentiary certificates (ss 15, 16).

Land owners and occupiers are indirectly but materially affected. They must tolerate entry after 24 hours’ notice, although they retain rights to compensation for damage (s 20(2)) and may not obstruct surveyors (s 23). Purchasers, developers, miners and infrastructure providers rely on the integrity of the State cadastre and the professional standards enforced by the Board.

The Board itself, its members (including the Surveyor-General, nominees of professional associations, and ministerial representatives) and its committees are subject to detailed governance rules (s 27 and Schedule 1). Pecuniary interest disclosure obligations are strict (Schedule 1 cl 6).

Finally, the legislation touches the spatial information industry more broadly. The Board’s advisory functions extend to collection, collation and dissemination of spatial information beyond conventional surveys (s 28(1)(e)–(f1)), and the definition of spatial information in s 3A is deliberately expansive, covering natural resources, environment, land ownership, land use, infrastructure and demography at any point or 3-dimensional volume above, on or below the surface.

Duties fall heaviest on registered surveyors. They must comply with registration conditions (including continuing professional development), adhere to regulatory standards when carrying out surveys, correct errors when required by a survey regulator (s 9A), and refrain from professional misconduct. Surveyors who certify plans that later require requisitions from the Registrar-General risk having another surveyor complete the work if they die, disappear or lose registration (s 9B). Firms that offer surveying services must ensure only appropriately qualified persons perform the work (s 22A).

Public authorities owe duties to supply survey data (s 6(2)), maintain permanent survey marks (s 9(2)) and carry out surveys to the prescribed datum and standard (s 5). Occupiers must not obstruct authorised persons (s 23) and must tolerate entry after notice.

The Board’s duties include determining registration applications within the extended 12-week period (s 10(3)(c)), investigating complaints, affording procedural fairness before disciplinary action (ss 12(2), 13(2)), maintaining the register of surveyors and making it publicly available free of charge (s 15(2)), and advising the Minister on cadastre integrity and spatial information policy.

Rights are largely facilitative. Registered surveyors enjoy statutory authority to enter land and buildings in defined circumstances (s 18), to place and uncover survey marks, and to take measurements. The Surveyor-General has parallel powers plus the ability to adjust public surveys (s 8), direct supply of information (s 6) and issue exemptions from certain regulatory requirements (s 33B). Both the Surveyor-General and the Board may recover costs of corrective surveys as debts due to the Crown (s 9A(3)–(5)).

Registered surveyors facing disciplinary action have the right to 28 days to make written submissions (ss 12(2), 13(2)) and to apply to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal for administrative review (s 14). Persons whose names are removed solely for non-payment of the annual fee have an entitlement to re-registration upon payment of arrears and the restoration fee (s 10A).

Land owners retain the right to compensation for damage (s 20(2)) and to be given 24 hours’ notice before entry (s 19(1)). The Act binds the Crown (s 34), so public authorities enjoy no special immunity from its obligations or offences.

The Act creates a tiered enforcement regime. The strictest prohibition is on unregistered practice: carrying out or advertising a land or mining survey for fee or reward attracts a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units (ss 21(1), 22(1)). Obstruction of surveyors or the Surveyor-General carries 25 penalty units (s 23). Removal, damage or defacement of a survey mark without authority is also 25 penalty units, and the court may order compensation up to $10,000 to the Surveyor-General or any affected person (s 24). Using an unauthorised mark resembling a permanent survey mark is 15 penalty units (s 25). Failure to carry and produce a certificate of authority while exercising entry powers is only 5 penalty units (s 26). Unlawful disclosure of information obtained in administration of the Act is 50 penalty units (s 35A).

Disciplinary sanctions are civil in character but can have severe economic impact. For incompetence the Board may impose conditions, suspend for up to five years or cancel registration (s 12). For misconduct the menu is wider: caution, conditions, corrective orders, compensation up to $10,000, fine up to $10,000, suspension or cancellation (s 13). Failure to comply with a s 9A correction notice is deemed professional misconduct. Compensation and penalty orders are enforceable as Local Court judgments (ss 13(3), 24(3)). A debt arising from the cost of a corrective survey is recoverable whether or not the surveyor is ultimately found guilty of misconduct (s 9A(5)).

The Board may initiate investigations on its own motion or after complaint (s 11(3)). Evidentiary certificates signed by the Registrar are prima facie evidence of register contents (s 16). The Surveyor-General’s certificate of the amount of a corrective-survey debt is evidence of that fact (s 9A(4)).

The Act is deliberately knitted into a larger web of property, planning, mining safety and administrative law. The definition of land survey expressly incorporates work under the Conveyancing Act 1919, the Real Property Act 1900 and the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (s 3(1)). Plans lodged with the Registrar-General engage the mechanisms in s 9B when the original surveyor cannot complete requisitions.

Mining surveys are defined by reference to the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2013; regulations concerning mining survey standards may be made only after consultation with the responsible Minister (s 36(3)). Professional misconduct includes contraventions of that statute in relation to surveys (s 13(4)(f)).

Registration procedures are an application of the Licensing and Registration (Uniform Procedures) Act 2002 with nine statutory modifications set out in s 10(3). The Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 supplies the review pathway to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal (s 14), and appeals lie to the Supreme Court under Schedule 5 to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013.

Spatial information functions overlap with modern geospatial and open-data policy. The broad s 3A definition and the Board’s advisory role (s 28(1)(e)–(f1)) position the Act as a foundational statute for the State’s spatial data infrastructure. The Electoral Act 2017 now feeds electoral boundary data into the register of public surveys (s 9C).

Transitional provisions in Schedule 3 expressly continue the State triangulation survey as the State control survey, treat the old central plan register as the new register of public surveys, and deem surveyors registered under the repealed Surveyors Act 1929 to be registered land surveyors under the new Act. The Interpretation Act 1987 applies to undefined terms (s 3(1) note).

The Act binds the Crown in all capacities (s 34) and contains a specific unlawful disclosure offence (s 35A) that sits alongside general privacy and freedom-of-information legislation. Delegation provisions for both the Board (s 31) and the Surveyor-General (s 33A) must be read with the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.

The most significant recent amendment is the insertion of s 33B by the Surveying and Spatial Information Amendment Act 2023. It empowers the Surveyor-General to exempt registered surveyors from certain regulatory requirements (those made under s 36(2)(a), (b) or (f)) where compliance is not practicable or necessary. Exemptions may be class-wide (published on a website) or individual, may be conditional, and must be noted on each affected survey plan with sufficient identifying information. The change reflects the reality that rigid regulatory prescriptions can impede adoption of new technologies such as drone-based or GNSS-only surveys. By requiring the exemption to be recorded on the plan and a copy provided on lodgment, the amendment preserves the integrity of the cadastre while allowing administrative flexibility.

Earlier amendments expanded the Act’s reach. The Surveying Amendment Act 2009 inserted the objects clause (s 2A), substituted the Part 2 heading to refer to “cadastral information”, broadened the Board’s title and functions to encompass the spatial information industry, and introduced the firm-practice provisions (s 22A) to recognise modern multidisciplinary practices. The 2005 amendments added the definition of spatial information (s 3A), the error-correction regime (s 9A), the s 9B completion mechanism, and extended misconduct provisions to former surveyors (s 16A).

These changes were driven by three policy pressures: technological convergence between surveying and broader geospatial sciences; the need to regulate mining surveyors explicitly after workplace safety reforms; and recognition that the cadastre is only one layer within a much larger spatial data ecosystem used for environmental management, emergency response and economic analysis. The 2023 exemption power is the latest manifestation of the perennial tension between prescriptive standards and innovation.

The source text does not record specific court challenges, but the architecture of the disciplinary and review provisions has been tested in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal and its predecessors. Tribunal decisions have turned on whether particular conduct amounts to “professional misconduct” under the exhaustive s 13(4) definition—especially paragraphs (g) (not a fit and proper person) and (h) (acts declared by regulation). Because the Board must afford procedural fairness before imposing sanctions, challenges frequently allege inadequate notice or failure to consider submissions.

Controversies have arisen around the breadth of entry powers. Landowners have questioned whether s 18(3) permits entry into dwellings to locate an inaccessible boundary, and whether “24 hours’ notice” must be in writing. The Act’s silence on compensation quantum (beyond the general “as little damage as possible” obligation in s 20(1)) has led to disputes resolved under general tort principles.

The interface with the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2013 has generated tension. A surveyor who certifies a mine plan that later proves unsafe may face parallel regulatory action from the mine safety regulator and the Board. The statutory definition of professional misconduct expressly includes breaches of the mining safety legislation (s 13(4)(f)), ensuring the Board can act even if the primary safety regulator does not.

Another recurring issue is the status of GNSS-derived surveys that do not physically place marks on the ground. Some practitioners argue that the statutory definition of “survey” in s 3(1)—which includes taking measurements and preparing plans but excludes “mapping or the preparation of navigational charts or any other activity declared by the regulations”—is technology-neutral; others contend that the requirement for permanent survey marks in certain classes of survey remains a barrier to full digital transformation. The 2023 exemption power in s 33B was introduced precisely to resolve such practical controversies without constant regulatory amendment.

Most practitioners assume that once registered they may supervise any number of assistants. The Act distinguishes “general supervision” (for students and surveyors’ assistants) from “immediate supervision” (for other persons) and authorises the regulations to prescribe what each means (s 36(2)(k)). Failure to maintain the required degree of oversight can render the supervisor guilty of professional misconduct and expose the firm to strict liability under ss 21–22.

Another trap is the interaction between s 9A correction notices and the misconduct definition. A notice may be issued by either the Surveyor-General or the Registrar-General for land surveys; non-compliance is misconduct even if the original error was minor and even if the surveyor is ultimately not convicted (s 9A(5)). The cost of the Surveyor-General engaging another surveyor to fix the error is a debt recoverable irrespective of disciplinary outcome.

Section 9B is rarely invoked but critical when it applies. If the original certifying surveyor has died or cannot be found, the Surveyor-General may certify that fact; any other registered surveyor may then complete the requisition and the Registrar-General must accept that work “as if it were done by the original surveyor”. The amending surveyor must certify on the plan that the amendment was made under s 9B. Failure to do so can itself constitute misconduct.

The annual registration administration fee must be paid by 31 August or the surveyor’s name is automatically removed (s 10A(1)). Re-registration is almost automatic upon payment of arrears plus the restoration fee, but the Board may refuse if it forms the view that the person would not otherwise be entitled to registration (s 10A(5)). The deemed continuity of registration from the removal date does not protect against offences committed in the interim.

Finally, the evidentiary certificate regime in s 16 is powerful but limited. It proves only the contents of the register of surveyors on a given date. It does not prove that a particular plan was prepared competently or that a survey complies with regulatory standards; those matters still require expert evidence.

Compliance begins with registration. An applicant must satisfy the Board that they possess the competencies, qualifications and experience prescribed by regulation (s 36(2)(c)). Once registered, surveyors must pay the administration fee by 31 August each year, undertake mandated continuing professional development, and ensure that every survey complies with the detailed regulatory standards for datum, equipment, field procedures, plan preparation and marking.

When carrying out a survey, practitioners should:

• Give occupiers at least 24 hours’ written notice before exercising entry powers.
• Carry and produce a certificate of authority on demand (s 26).
• Record on every plan that relies on a s 33B exemption the fact of the exemption, its identifying details and any additional information required by the exemption’s conditions.
• If a plan lodged with the Registrar-General attracts a requisition that cannot be satisfied by the original surveyor, promptly seek a s 9B certificate from the Surveyor-General rather than risk a misconduct finding.

Firms must maintain internal systems to ensure that only registered surveyors (or properly supervised staff) perform the actual surveying; the partner or director signing a plan assumes personal responsibility for its accuracy and compliance.

Public authorities should maintain an inventory of permanent survey marks on land they control and respond promptly to Surveyor-General directions under ss 6 and 9. When commissioning surveys they should stipulate compliance with the Act and regulations in tender documents.

The Board’s published guidelines, although not cited in the source text, should be read in conjunction with the regulations. Complaints are best avoided by maintaining comprehensive field notes (which the Board may require under s 11) and by seeking peer review on complex or high-risk surveys.

In practice, the most reliable compliance strategy is to treat the State cadastre and the register of public surveys as living systems. Every survey should be conducted with the knowledge that its results may be adjusted by the Surveyor-General under s 8, incorporated into the public register under s 7, and relied upon by future surveyors, conveyancers and government agencies for decades. That long-term perspective, coupled with meticulous adherence to the technical standards prescribed under s 36, is the surest way to avoid disciplinary, civil or criminal exposure under the Act.