About the Surveyor-General of Victoria

The Surveyor-General of Victoria is the primary government authority on surveying and the cadastre (land property boundaries and tenure). Roles and responsibilities for the Surveyor-General are prescribed under a diverse range of Acts and Regulations of Parliament. The role of the Surveyor-General includes responsibilities for Victoria's: land administration planning surveying electoral system geographic place names regulation geodetic infrastructure and survey control network protection of the cadastre industry leadership.

Statutory Responsibilities and Powers

• the statutory authority on surveying and cadastral boundaries
• the Registrar of Geographic Names in Victoria (visit VICNAMES)
• chair of the Surveyors Registration Board of Victoria
• a Commissioner for Electoral Boundaries in Victoria
• a member of the Federal Redistribution Committee for Victoria
• a State Verifying Authority for the measurement of length
• responsible for registering survey plans in the Land Registry
• leading the Office of Surveyor-General Victoria and its contribution to the Department of Sustainability and Environment's (DSE) corporate mission, product and service delivery charter.

Additional Roles and Responsibilities

• providing high level advice to the Minister and DSE on statutory and policy matters relating to surveying, geodetic infrastructure, the survey control network and the cadastre
• determinatiing and approving Crown (government) land boundaries and alignments
• co-ordinating surveying activities within Victoria to ensure that appropriate standards are maintained by state authorities
• maintaining Victoria's geodetic infrastructure and survey control network
• setting standards of measurement and is a State Verifying Authority for the measurement of length under the Australian Government's National Measurement Act 1960
• monitoring compliance of land surveyors with regulations and standards to ensure adequate maintenance of the cadastral boundaries form the basis of land ownership in Victoria
• promulgating surveying practice directions in relation to standards of measurement, survey and marking through the Survey Practice Handbook or Surveyor-General Practice Directives.