A Local-State Government Spatial Data Sharing Partnership

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Chapter 2 – Spatial Data and SDI in Context
Local government in Australia was an early adopter of land information and geographic
systems, both as a user of the early digital map products such as the digital cadastral data
bases (DCDB) and also a prominent information contributor (McDougall & Perret 1987;
Williamson & Blackburn 1985). Many of these developments were driven by the need for
improved land use planning (Nash & Moll 1976) and better financial management of the
organisation and their assets (Cushing et al. 1975).
By the late 1970s, many local governments in Australia had computerised records of their
properties for the purpose of rating and taxation, however these systems constituted
financial management systems rather than spatial information systems. Early efforts to
build more “spatially” orientated systems focussed on the classification and geocoding of
land and planning information. These developments enabled key data sets such as address,
zoning, land ownership and planning applications to be more effectively managed in a
geographic as well as financial context.
Even at this early stage of land information systems development, the problems of dealing
with the complex nature of address, property and land parcels were recognised, and the
concept of a unique property identifier was considered (Moyer & Fisher 1973). The local
government developments in Australia parallelled efforts in other countries such as the
United Kingdom, where the development of systems such as the Local Authority
Management Information Systems (LAMIS) were undertaken by local governments in
conjunction with mainframe computer vender ICL (Mayr 1992).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, advances in computing enabled the use of graphical
interfaces through mini-computers, and then personal computers, to be more widely
deployed in local government (Bomberger 1983). The development of computerised local
government planning schemes and zoning maps were some of the first significant products
to be generated from land information systems. Traditional computer applications for
planning began to make way for more spatially demanding and accuracy specific
applications such as engineering infrastructure, transport planning, property management
and facilities management (Bomberger 1983).
Although local governments in Australia provide a multitude of services, other essential
services such as gas, electricity and water are now primarily managed by quasi-
governmental instrumentalities or private companies. These organisations, along with
local governments, have significant holdings of spatial information.