Statutory Powers and Accountabilities of the Surveyor-General

The Surveyor General is the recognised authority on land boundaries. This is borne out by the powers given to the position by many Acts passed over the years dealing with Crown land. Although Surveyors-General have played a prominent role in land settlement, most of the statutory powers under the Land Acts have been vested in the Minister or the Governor in Council.

The most comprehensive legislation concerning the authority of the Surveyor-General was passed in 1940. In introducing the Survey Co-ordination Bill into Parliament the Minister of Lands referred to the overlapping of survey work, the fact that survey marks were not always of a sufficiently permanent nature and that it was necessary for all surveys, whether for general engineering or land tenure, should conform to a reasonable standard of accuracy so that the resulting work could be used generally. He said that it was also necessary to have machinery for co-operation with the Commonwealth, particularly in regard to triangulation and mapping.

The Minister said that the co-ordination of surveys implied supervision by a central authority and, as the Department of Lands and Surveys held in the original plan room the record plans of alienation of land from the Crown and was under the supervision of the Surveyor-General, it was considered the natural location for a Central Plan Office and Central Plan Register, and that the Surveyor-General be the officer responsible to give effect to the scheme in consultation with other departments and authorities concerned.
The Bill had been drafted from resolutions passed at conferences with representatives of the Commonwealth, twelve State Government and quasi Government departments, the Surveyors Board and The Victorian Institute of Surveyors, presided over by the Public Service Commissioner acting for the Premier. It was passed by parliament and became the Survey Co-ordination Act 1940 No. 4732, the first Act for the co-ordination of surveys to come into operation in any State of the Commonwealth.

The Survey Co-ordination (Place Names) Act 1965 No. 7360 later became Part II of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 No. 6388. In introducing the Place Names Bill to Parliament the Minister of Lands said that the need to establish a committee with statutory powers was brought to notice by various departments and public authorities interested in drawing and publishing official maps and plans. He said that the Survey Co-ordination Act was designed to co-ordinate and facilitate the survey, mapping and general plan work of departments and public authorities, and it was anticipated that the amendment to this Act now proposed would prove to be a simple and effective means off achieving unity in these matters so that undesirable duplication of place names would be eliminated, suitable new names selected, existing unsuitable names would be altered and the spelling of place names on official maps would be uniform.


Outline of Relevant Acts and Regulations concerning the powers of the Surveyor-General

Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 No. 6388

This Act gives the Surveyor-General wide powers and responsibilities concerning the co-ordination of survey work in the State. A précis of the sections concerning the powers and responsibilities of the Surveyor-General is as follows:
Section 5
Departments and public authorities are to give notice to the Surveyor-General of their intention to commence a survey.

Section 6
The Surveyor-General may require surveys to be carried out in a certain manner, permanent marks to be established and plans to be supplied.

Section 7
Departments and public authorities are to forward quarterly returns of plans and surveys made by them to the Surveyor-General.

Section 8
The Surveyor-General is required to enter plans of general value in a Central Plan Register, to require certain registered plans to be lodged in the Central Plan Office, to give consent before registered plans are destroyed, to receive advice of alteration to registered plans, to authorise persons to have access to registered plans and to publish an index of all plans recorded in the Central Plan Register.

Section 9
The Surveyor-General is to be assisted by a Titles Office Survey Officer in the co-ordination of plans in the Office of Titles with registered plans in the Central Plan Office, and the Surveyor-General may authorise persons to inspect plans in the Office of Titles.

Section 10
The Surveyor-General may authorise inspection of registered plans whether in the Central Plan Office or not.

Section 11
The Surveyor-General may require departments and public authorities to supply copies of registered plans to other departments and public authorities and licensed surveyors.

Section 12
The Surveyor-General (with consent of the Governor in Council) may cause surveys to be carried out for establishing a standard traverse and permanent marks for any area within the State. Upon a report by the Surveyor-General that the work has been completed the Governor in Council may proclaim such area to be a “proclaimed survey area”. The Surveyor-General is to advise how surveys may be connected to the standard traverse and to certify and forward plans of the standard traverse to the Commonwealth Survey Authority.

Section 13
It is the duty of the Surveyor-General to advise and take all steps necessary for avoiding unnecessary duplication of surveys.

Section 14
The Surveyor-General is given a general power to carry out surveys for the purpose of the Act.

Section 15
The Surveyor-General may adopt any particular reference marks to be permanent marks, and in certain cases may be required to maintain permanent marks established by other departments and public authorities.

Section 16
Reports are to be made to the Surveyor-General on removal or alteration of permanent marks.

Section 17
The Surveyor-General is to notify certain authorities of the establishment removal or alteration of any permanent mark.

Section 18
The Surveyor-General is to be notified of any irregularity, destruction, removal or disrepair of any permanent mark.

Section 20
The Surveyor-General is required to report to the Minister upon the progress and co-ordination of surveys with surveys under the Commonwealth scheme, and generally on the administration of the Act each year.

Section 21
The Surveyor-General may exempt departments, public authorities and licensed surveyors privately employed from all or any provision of the Act under certain circumstances. Refusal of exemption and any requisition of the Surveyor-General made pursuant to the Act is subject to appeal to the Governor in Council.
Survey Co-ordination (Surveys) Regulations 1992 made pursuant to Section 22 of the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958 give the Surveyor-General certain discretionary powers concerning the practical implementation of the Act.

Under Regulation 15, a surveyor must use and maintain survey equipment, which has been compared to a standard of measurement.

These comparisons of survey equipment are made against standards of length maintained by the Surveyor General and certified under Regulation 80 of the National Measurement Regulations of the National Measurement Act 1960.

Under Regulation 20 the Surveyor General may require field notes and abstracts of field notes made for cadastral surveys to be produced for inspection and examination.

Section 123(1)
Before the Governor in Council may grant a grazing lease for unalienated Crown land the Surveyor-General is required to certify that such land is unsuitable for selection under selection purchase leases or conditional purchase leases under the Act. It is also provided that no lease will be granted for any first, second or third class land or any unclassified land which, in the opinion of the Surveyor-General, would, if classified, be classified as first, second or third class land.

Section 142(e)
No fence shall be erected on any bee farm site except on any boundary thereof, nor unless the boundaries thereof are clearly defined by a survey approved by the Surveyor-General.

Section 303(3)(a)(ii)
In development leases the subdivision of land comprised in the lease shall be by means of surveys carried out in accordance with the regulations relating to surveys under the Act and approved by the Surveyor-General.

Schedule 10 7(2)
Refers to the Surveyor General's approval to alignment of roads vested in the Crown or a body representing the Crown.

Section 73
Provides that the Surveyor-General may certify that a map is an original map showing the land excised, added or altered to any State Forest. Judicial notice is to be taken of the signature of the Surveyor-General certifying that maps are reproductions of original maps drawn correctly or to a larger scale than the originals.

In the schedules to this Act, reference is made to plans of National Parks prepared by the Surveyor-General and lodged in the Central Plan Office.

Section 3(2)(c)
The Surveyor-General shall be one of three members of the Electoral Boundary Commission.
Section 4
Sets out the tenure of office.

Sections 25L(2) & (3)
Provides that the Surveyor-General, if he is available, shall be a member of a Redistribution Committee for Victoria.
Sections 25W (2)(c)
Provides that members of the Redistribution Committee are to be members of an Augmented Electoral Commission for Victoria.

Section 72 (2)(e)
Provides for the certification by the Surveyor-General of copies of original maps, plans, documents and papers in the custody of a department handling the Survey Co-ordination Act 1958.

Section 4 (2)(a)
The Surveyor General to be a member of the Surveyors Board and be Chairman.
Section 31
No person shall be appointed to the office of Surveyor General unless he is a licensed surveyor.

The Surveyor General is appointed as Victoria’s verifying authority for standards of measurement pursuant to section 77 of the Regulations.

• Eastern Freeway Lands Act 1971 No. 8204
• National Tennis Centre Act 1985 No 10206
• Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust Act 1989 No. 70
• Docklands Authority Act 1991 No. 22
• Aboriginal Lands Act 1991 No. 38
• Deakin University (Victoria College) Act 1991 No. 41
• National Rail Corporation (Victoria) Act 1991 No. 76
• Royal Botanic Gardens Act 1991 No. 87
• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Act 1992 No. 45
• Melbourne University (VCAH) Act 1992 No. 52
• Casino Control (Amendment) Act 1993 No. 34
• Institute of Educational Administration (Repeal) Act 1993 No. 45
• Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933

• Cemeteries Act 1958 No. 6217
• Forest Act 1958 No. 6254
• Port of Melbourne Authority Act 1958 No. 6312
• Land Conservation (Vehicle Control) Act 1972 No. 8379
• National Parks Act 1975 No. 8702
• Port Bellarine Tourist Resort Act 1981 No. 9555
• Electoral Boundaries Commission Act 1982 No. 9801
• Alpine Resorts Act 1983 No. 9974
• South Yarra Project Act 1984 No. 10153
• Groundwater (Border Agreement) Act 1985 No. 10218
• Royal Botanic Gardens Act 1991 No. 87
• Melbourne Market and Park Lands Act 1992 No. 20
• Loy Yang B Act 1992 No. 35
• Heritage Rivers Act 1992 No. 36
• Melbourne University (VCAH) Act 1992 No. 52
• Victorian Plantations Corporation Act 1993 No. 61
• Land Titles Validation Act 1993 No. 65
• Gas and Fuel Corporation (Heatane Gas) Act 1993 No.