A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

A Local-State Spatial Data Sharing Partnership Model to Facilitate SDI Development
valued at $557 billion and $442 billion respectively (Department of Sustainability and
Environment 2004). Since 2000, there have been approximately 50,000 new rateable
properties per year coming into the land market. In 2004, the revenue from land tax
amounted to $749 million and duties on property transactions raised over $2.45 billion
(State Revenue Office Victoria 2005). These figures serve to indicate the importance of
the property sector to the Victorian economy, and hence underscore the value of good
information to this sector and the community overall.
5.2.2 Institutional Environment
Organisational Profile
The State of Victoria commenced its computerisation of land information and digital
mapping in the early 1980s with the establishment of an agency, LANDATA, to coordinate
the development of a state-wide land information system. The agency experienced a range
of difficulties, including under resourcing, which resulted in the implementation of a
counter-productive cost recovery policy. In 1991, the lack of progress in coordination of
geographic information, particularly within the natural resources area led to the
establishment of the Office of Geographic Data Coordination (OGDC) under the
Department of Finance (Nedovic-Budic et al. 2004b).
An important stage of the development and coordination of spatial information in Victoria
was a study the OGDC commissioned in 1991 which identified the diversity and
duplication of digital spatial information holdings across state agencies. The study
identified the importance of spatial information from both a strategic and economic
perspective (Office of Geographic Data Coordination 1993). It also provided the basis for
further institutional reforms around 1997, including the development of the first of a series
of Victorian Geographic Information Strategies (VGIS). This era heralded a change in
policy and strategy which resulted in a more co-operative and collaborative approach to
spatial information management.
During this period, the majority of property related activities in Victoria were managed in
the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). The primary division
responsible for the management of property related information was Land Victoria. In
2002, the new Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) was established. The
responsibility for spatial information policy and SDI development was transferred to a
separate division called Spatial Information Infrastructure (SII). DSE is a large multi-
sectoral department with over 2700 staff, which manages parks, water, land, natural
resources and environment (Department of Sustainability and Environment 2006).
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