The Geospatial Council of Australia (GCA) recently appointed three successful nominees to seats on the internationally recognised Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Certification Panel (AHSCP).
Effective from September 2024 for a period of two years, Rhys Davies (Survey + Spatial New Zealand) will be the new Nautical Charting Hydrography representative, Neville Benson (GCA) the new Education representative and Katherine Butcher (GCA) has been re-elected to the seat of Industrial Offshore Surveying. They will join the existing Panel members Barry Smith (Hydrography for Coastal Zone Management), Neil Hewitt (Private Practice) and Chair Commodore Robyn Phillips (Hydrographer of Australia).
“The importance of the AHSCP only continues to grow,” said Tony Wheeler, CEO of the GCA. “It is a vital element for the professionalisation of the hydrographic workforce.”
Key to the ongoing success of the AHSCP is the dynamic membership of the Panel, and the five members represent all segments of the hydrographic survey industry.
The AHSCP is comprised of six members — Chair and ex-officio member, the Hydrographer of Australia, currently CDRE Robyn Phillips — and five elected members who serve a two-year term. In order to maintain continuity, AHSCP elections run annually and alternate between two members elected one year and three the following. Nominations will be held in 2025 for the positions of Private Practice and Hydrography for Coastal Zone Management.
“GCA wishes to thank CAPT Dean Battilana RAN, Katherine Butcher and Ian Phillips, the AHSCP Panellists in the positions that have just completed a term of service — or in Dean’s case, two terms,” said Wheeler.
The GCA and Survey and Spatial New Zealand Professional Certification in Hydrographic Surveying is formal recognition that the AHSCP has rigorously assessed a person’s hydrographic surveying competence, based on their experience and education.
The FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC) has recognised the AHSCP Scheme since 2012, and it is widely recognised globally as the leading scheme for assessing a hydrographic surveyor’s competency.
