New Geodetic Infrastructure for Australia

In November 2006, the Australian Federal Government announced $15.8M in funding for geospatial research infrastructure through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). NCRIS is an initiative under the Australian Government's Backing Australia's Ability package with a number of key principles, including maximising the contributions of the R&D system to economic development, national security, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability. Here we outline why particular components of geospatial infrastructure are required in Australia to advance (equip) geospatial research over the next 20 years. We describe some of the scientific objectives that required an upgrade and densification of Australia's geospatial infrastructure. This paper is the perspective from a subset of University researchers involved in the AuScope Geospatial component, and so does not necessarily encompass the opinions of all those involved in AuScope Geospatial