Surveyor-General of Victoria

The Surveyor-General of Victoria is the public service officer nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia. The original duties for the Surveyor-General were to measure and determine land grants for settlers in Victoria. (see History of Victoria). The Surveyor-General continues to be the primary government authority on surveying and the cadastre (land property boundaries and tenure).^[1]

The Surveyor-General is also the Chair of the Surveyors Registration Board of Victoria (formerly the Surveyors Board of Victoria) and also holds the appointment of the Registrar of Geographic Names. In addition, the Surveyor-General is a member of the Electoral Boundaries Commission of Victoria and a member of the Federal Electoral Redistribution Committee for Victoria. The Surveyor-General is a State Verifying Authority for the measurement of length.

The Surveying Act 2004, Act 47/2004, Part 6, specifies the appointment, suspension and functions of the Surveyor-General. Note that the Act spells "Surveyor-General" with a hyphen, which is the conventional spelling. The Surveyor-General is required to be a Licensed Surveyor.^[2]

The Surveyor-General was originally created as a department following the separation in July 1851 of the Port Phillip District from the Colony of New South Wales to establish the Colony of Victoria. Prior to that, Port Phillip was a district branch of the NSW Surveyor-General’s Department. The Surveyor-General initially also held political office, being a member of the Victorian Legislative Council 1851-1855 and then as a Minister 1855-57. Thereafter, it changed from being that of a Ministry to a public service role as Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey and also the Surveyor-General. During its history, the Office of Surveyor-General has come under a range of different departments and divisions, with different reporting arrangements. It has also downsized, and responsibilities changed.^[3]

Previous responsibilities of the Surveyor-General have included being the Guardian of Aborigines, which was transferred from the Chief Secretary to the Surveyor-General in 1856. Subsequently, it was assumed by the Board of Land and Works, under the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in 1857. The planning for and surveying of proposed railway lines in Victoria also became an important role. In May 1856, a sub-department of railways within the Surveyor-General's Department. It was established within this Department because the prime function of 'Victorian Railways' was, at that time, the survey of proposed lines of railway. In the post Second World War period, the Surveyor-General was also Director of Mapping, but in 1995 lost this position to the Office of Geographic Data Coordination (OGDC) which became the Land Information Group (LIG) under Land Victoria. The responsibilities have continued with another business unit under what is now Land Use Victoria.