A weekly round-up of all the geospatial news that didn’t make it into our normal daily coverage.
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Let’s start this week with some event information. And first up is a reminder that the abstract submission deadline for the upcoming combined Locate26 Conference/10th Digital Earth Summit is 30 June. So, if you’re interested in presenting, don’t delay — you have less than one week to get your submission in. More details here. The event will be held in Melbourne in November.
A travel grant program has been announced for the Advancing Earth Observation forum, also to be held in November. The grant program aims to help increase diversity, equity and inclusion at the event by assisting participation from students, early career professionals, women and minority genders, and those from indigenous communities and remote communities. A limited number of grants of up to $1,500 are available. Full details here.
Nominations are now open for the South Australian Geospatial Excellence Awards, to be presented on 7 August during the Spatial Information Day Gala Dinner. The award categories are:
- Geospatial Professional of the Year
- Emerging Geospatial Professional of the Year
- Local Hero Award
- Local Impact Award
The body organising the awards, the South Australian Geospatial Alliance, is looking for entries that will showcase projects and individuals pushing the boundaries of geospatial excellence in South Australia.
This week’s geospatial job vacancies
Now let’s move on to some job vacancies that we’ve spotted over the past week.
Transport for NSW is seeking a Manager Spatial Services for a fixed term until December 2028, supporting the Sydney Metro project. The role involves managing the implementation and uptake of GIS across projects, stakeholders and delivery partners; leading technical delivery, governance and assurance of spatial data and GIS solutions; and building partnerships and driving continuous improvement of GIS to support digital engineering, project delivery and improved community outcomes. Applications close on 2 July.
Transport for NSW is also seeking a Senior Manager Geospatial Delivery to lead a team of geospatial specialists and developers responsible for delivering and maintaining enterprise-wide geospatial platforms and solutions. Applications close on 2 July.
Waverley Council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has two openings, one for a GIS Analyst and the other for a GIS Officer. Both positions play a key role in maintaining and enhancing Council’s GIS, spatial data and mapping services.
In Victoria, the Department of Transport and Planning is looking for a Senior Manager Strategic Business Services to develop and improve governance frameworks for commercial and data arrangements, and to ensure compliance with legal and contractual requirements. The role also supports reporting, performance monitoring, strategic planning and cultural safety. Applications close on 2 July.
In Queensland, the Department of Transport and Main Roads is seeking a Senior Spatial Science Officer to join the Geospatial Technologies team to help manage core spatial data products and be primarily responsible for road centrelines used for asset management and interactive mapping. Applications close on 26 June.
And also in Queensland, the Department of Primary Industries needs a Project Officer (Spatial) to join the Biosecurity Queensland team in Cairns. The role involves the installation, maintenance of, and technical support for GIS desktop and online applications; providing GIS support and maps for various program areas, including operations, compliance, data analytics, science and management; providing supervision for spatial project support positions and technical advice and support for ArcGIS users; and overseeing and coordinating field GPS data upload and associated data management. Applications close on 14 July.
This week’s other geospatial news
The Western Australian Department of Main Roads has issued an updated Mobile Laser Scanning Standard, dated May 2026, within which some general requirements have been removed. If you’re involved in LiDAR scanning of roads, check it out.
In NSW, DCS Spatial Services has published advice through the Survey and Spatial Information Framework (v1.1). According to the Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024, a single Date of Survey must be applied across both a plan title block and administrative sheet. The fieldwork completion date may optionally be shown within the plan drawing area. The aim is to reduce ambiguity and avoid discrepancies.
In Sydney, Strathfield Council has issued a request for quotation for the provision and implementation of an aerial imagery solution.
Both the university and housing sectors have been in the news a lot lately, with many problems to be solved in both. In a submission to the Productivity Commission as it conducts its inquiry into housing supply regulation, Luke Sheehy, CEO of Universities Australia, writes that “Australia’s universities are prepared to be part of the solution. They educate the architects, engineers, planners, surveyors, builders and construction managers needed to deliver more homes.” It’s good to see planners and surveyors getting a mention.
Over the past six months we’ve published lots of news about the Pacific GIS and Remote Sensing Council (PGRSC) signing up new institutional members, such as The Spatial Distillery Co, MAGIS, Pacific Coastal Research & Planning and the state of New Caledonia. The latest organisation to sign up with the PGRSC is the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife, which specialises in analysing satellite and drone imagery to support natural resources and rare species management.
And finally, the European Galileo GNSS service has begun broadcasting a new signal, called E5a Quasi Pilot, from 12 satellites within the constellation. Contained within the signal is a small amount of data, including the time data necessary for a first fix. This information, which is fully predictable at user level, is delivered using a tailored signal structure that simplifies the acquisition process and reduces the power consumption at the receiver end. The aim is to encourage take-up by manufacturers and users of low-power devices such as IoT equipment.
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