A weekly round-up of all the geospatial news that didn’t make it into our normal daily coverage.

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We’ll begin this week with word that the program for the Locate26 Conference/10th Digital Earth Summit is about to be released. The joint event will be held in Melbourne from 24 to 26 November, and promises to be a must-attend occasion, bringing together experts from across Australia and around the world to discuss the most pressing subjects in the geospatial sector.

Keep an eye on the Spatial Source homepage for program release in the next few days. Plus you can read more about the event in our FAQ article, find out about the International Society for Digital Earth and Digital Earth Summit side of it, and learn about the support that’s available for young and emerging professionals. Early bird registrations close on 14 September — head to the registration page for full details.

In Adelaide, the South Australian Geospatial Alliance will hold a speed networking evening on 15 September, from 5:30pm to 10:30pm at the Flinders University City Campus. The event will give young professionals the chance to meet and introduce themselves to industry mentors in a rotating, three-minute, speed-dating format. Food and drinks will be provided. It sounds like it’ll be lots of fun and very worthwhile!

In New Zealand, the inaugural BIMinNZ Tauranga event will be held at the Tauranga City Council premises on 23 September. The event, which is to be themed ‘Connecting our Digital Future,’ aims to bring together professionals from across the Bay of Plenty’s built environment sector to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping digital delivery in the region.

According to the group, this launch event “marks the beginning of a new local community dedicated to advancing digital engineering, information management, BIM, GIS, reality capture, digital twins, and asset management practices across the infrastructure, construction, and property sectors”.

A little while ago, we brought you news about the 2026 Pacific Islands GIS & Remote Sensing User Conference, coming up at the end of November. The organisers have now issued a new Abstract Submission Guide, giving step-by-step instructions for those wishing to present a Standard Talk, Lightning Talk or a Workshop.

The latest Queensland ‘Lands surveying alert’ has included a progress report on work underway to update the systems used for managing survey plan and survey control, a new combined platform called the Queensland Survey Register.

With regard to survey plan information, legacy data has been migrated into the new system, the data freeze has been lifted and updating of survey plan information has re-commenced. Search functionality continues to be available through the normal channels.

With regard to survey control information, the alert says that “There is an issue affecting the publication of newly submitted survey control information from the department including through Queensland Globe. As a result, recently submitted survey control information may not yet be visible in Queensland Globe, despite having been successfully lodged. The spatial systems team is actively working to resolve the issue and restore normal data publication as quickly as possible.”

“For surveyors, this could mean reduced visibility of the latest survey control information when planning or undertaking work. We recognise the importance of timely and reliable survey control information and will continue to provide updates as progress is made towards a resolution.”

More information can be obtained by emailing landandspatialsystemssupport@nrmmrrd.qld.gov.au. For Queensland Globe queries, email opendata@nrmmrrd.qld.gov.au.

The NSW Board of Surveying and Spatial Information (BOSSI) has announced that it has recently endorsed Surveyors Australia as a ratified organisation under the BOSSI CPD framework. As a ratified organisation, Surveyors Australia may:

• Assign CPD points to its own activities;
• Assess activities of other organisations and assign CPD points accordingly; and
• At its discretion, assess any other activities of a surveyor, whether a member or a non-member, and assign CPD points accordingly.

In an unrelated update, BOSSI has issued a reminder that the deadline for submission and payment of renewals is coming up in just a few days, 31 August. Failure to do so by that date will result in removal from the register.

And the BOSSI Board now has three new faces: Brian Hammonds, Nathan Milligan and Thomas Pulver, representing Consulting Surveyors NSW. Michael Spiteri and Richard Lemon have been reappointed to the Board, and the Board has thanked outgoing members Thomas Casey, Brittany Baker and Chris Larmour for their service.

On the subject of appointments, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) has shifted its advisory board focus from a representative basis to a skills-based structure. On the new board as of this month are two people with strong geospatial backgrounds: Glenn Cockerton, who brings more than 30 years of experience, including his time as leader of Spatial Vision; and Professor Graciela Metternicht, Dean of Science at Western Sydney University, who has been a TERN Regional Ambassador since 2015 and has deep expertise in geospatial science, Earth observation and the translation of environmental data.

This week’s geospatial job vacancies

Following a big burst of geospatial job vacancies in recent times, this week we have only a handful for you.

In Queensland, the Department of Transport and Main Roads is still seeking a Director (Digital Railways) to lead the digital transformation of Queensland’s major rail infrastructure program and drive the integration of digital engineering, BIM, geospatial technologies, data analytics and automation across a portfolio of rail projects. Applications close on 1 September.

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is looking for a Senior Data Scientist to develop and deliver innovative biodiversity data solutions that improve environmental decision-making across NSW. Applications close on 6 September.

In Victoria, Knox City Council has an opening for a Geospatial Business Analyst / Graduate Geospatial Data Administrator to assist with data maintenance, validation, mapping, reporting, documentation and user support. Applications close on 7 September.

And the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has a vacancy for a Program Leader Forest Operations Planning to lead the identification, prioritisation and scheduling of Forest Enhancement Areas to support implementation of the Forest Management Plan 2024-2033. The role requires extensive experience in the application of GIS, remote sensing, forest inventory, resource assessment and decision-support tools to support forest planning, landscape prioritisation, monitoring and reporting. Applications close on 9 September.

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