At present the benefits of our sound cadastral survey and land registration system are not readily available to many of our traditional communities, particularly in remote rural areas.

In order to address this need and to make security of property a reality in these communities, innovative alternative forms of cadastral survey and land tenure are being developed. These new systems will be affordable but secure, as modern survey techniques have enabled us to reduce the cost of survey without compromising accuracy or reliability. It is a fallacy that an accurate survey must be more expensive than a less accurate one.

The availability of cadastral information is essential for sound governance and planning. This information is readily available to all that are able to visit the relevant Surveyor-General Office or who have access to the Internet, which is not the case in many communities. Ways and means are being actively investigated whereby computers can be set up in even the remotest and most impoverished areas and linked to the Surveyor-General's data. The aim is to make information available to all.

At present the documents lodged by the land surveyor are paper documents, although they are generally drawn by computer using data held in a digital database. It is envisaged that in the future all documentation for examination will be submitted to the Surveyor-General electronically and that the movement of hardcopy documents will be kept to a minimum. The Deeds Registries are currently investigating proposals for electronic lodgment as well.

In keeping with international trends, the day is in sight when the present separation of cadastral maps and plans, and the land registers will be abolished, and the national cadastre will be managed as one digital entity.

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