History of Geoscience Australia

Geoscience Australia was first established in 1946 and was then called the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics (BMR).

The agency's main aim was the systematic geological and geophysical mapping of Australia to ensure informed mineral exploration. Mapping a land area of 7.7 million square kilometres at a scale of 4 miles to the inch - later changed to 1:250 000 - meant the production of more than 540 sheet areas. Mapping commenced in areas such as the Carnarvon and Fitzroy Basins in Western Australia. During the early 1950s work began in the Rum Jungle region, Northern Territory, and around Mt Isa and Cloncurry, Queensland. Offices were established in Papua New Guinea and systematic mapping was initiated there also.

In the early 1970s, the systematic mapping of Australia was nearing completion, so the BMR turned its attention to the mapping of the continental shelf and slope. This Continental Margin Survey was a major undertaking that obtained data from 185 000 kilometres of traverses across most of Australia's continental margin. Onshore work focussed on detailed geological, geophysical and geochemical studies of specific mineralised areas to integrate the geology with mineral-deposit data.

In 1978, BMR's main role shifted to developing a geological understanding of the Australian continent and its offshore areas. BMR subsequently moved towards strategic research and lowered the emphasis on surveys and mapping. Changes in government requirements saw offshore petroleum research emerge as a high priority to help formulate policy on the exploration of seabed resources.

In the 1980s, BMR gained its expertise in remote sensing and groundwater investigations. This was also the period when the organisation commenced nuclear monitoring and geohazard assessment, building on its activities in earthquake monitoring.

A National Geoscience Mapping Accord, set up between the BMR and State (and Territory) governments in the early 1990s, combined new scientific approaches with emerging technologies, and gave rise to airborne datasets, digitised databases and state-of-the-art processing techniques. It led to the second generation of geological maps for onshore Australia. These maps were digital and included many layers of information, making them ideal for use in geographic information systems.

The BMR became the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) in 1992. AGSO provided much of the geoscience information that underpinned exploration and development work for petroleum and minerals in Australia. A review carried out in AGSO's infancy concluded that geoscience was relevant to society by providing information essential for economic prosperity and for the proper use of resources to protect the local and global economy.

In August 2001 AGSO was renamed AGSO - Geoscience Australia.

In September 2001, the National Mapping Division (NMD) was created within Geoscience Australia from the separate organisation, the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG). AUSLIG's history includes the functions of the Australian Survey Office (ASO) and the Division of National Mapping (DNM) which were merged in 1987.

The origins of the ASO as a Commonwealth body go back to the years following Federation and the survey of the national capital, Canberra, under the direction of the first Commonwealth Surveyor-General, Charles Scrivener. Scrivener had responsibility for both surveying and mapping. These functions increased substantially during the Second World War as a result of Australia's defence requirements.

From 1947, the ASO carried out significant survey work on Commonwealth land at Woomera, where electronic distance measuring equipment was used for the first time in Australia.

The DNM was established as a separate entity from surveying in 1956. After 1956 the ASO retained responsibility for the large scale mappingof Australia's Territories, alongside its survey role. In that capacity it played an important part in the rapid development of Canberra and other projects within the Australian Capital Territory.

The ASO also provided survey staff for foreign aid projects, trained surveyors from other countries and conducted Australia's first polar surveys.

The late 1970s saw the development of remote sensing technology using satellite imagery. This capacity eventually led to the creation of the Australian Centre for Remote Sensing (ACRES) within the DNM to manage the Landsat data receiving station in Alice Springs, and to handle the processing and distribution of satellite imagery.

The DNM was tasked with mapping the entire country to facilitate national development in the post-war period, initially at a scale of 1:250 000 and subsequently at a scale of 1:100 000. The contoured National Topographic Map Series (NTMS) relied on large scale aerial photography, photogrammetry, cartographic drafting and extensive field surveys, and took more than two decades to complete. DNM, together with its successors, has been the Australian Government's key civilian mapping and land information agency. Since 1992 the 1:250 000 scale series has been progressively released as a digital GIS product, GEODATA, and updated using satellite imagery.

In November 2001, the new combined agency adopted its current name of Geoscience Australia, recognising its vital geoscientific work in a wide range of contexts and across many disciplines.

The National Mapping and Geohazards Divisions of Geoscience Australia were merged in 2005 to reflect a global trend in dealing with an increasing range of real world phenomena. Under the new Geospatial and Earth Monitoring Division (GEMD), the maintenance of standard small scale national topographic mapping remains a major responsibility.