The Australian Government has developed a series of policies and guidelines to assist agencies to better manage their spatial data.
Spatial data access and pricing
The Policy on Spatial Data Access and Pricing was established to improve accessibility to Australian Government spatial data. Under the terms of the Policy, spatial data is provided free of charge over the Internet, at no more than the marginal cost of transfer for packaged products, or at the full cost of transfer for customised services. Furthermore, there are no restrictions on commercial value-adding or on-selling for those spatial datasets listed on the Schedule. Spatial data is provided subject to a licence setting out the conditions of the transfer. [more information]
Metadata
The Australian Government Metadata Profile provides a structured way of describing spatial datasets and other resources. The Profile provides information about the identification, content, format, quality, currency and availability of data. The Profile is based on the International Metadata Standard ISO 19115:2003. [more information]
Custodianship
The Custodianship Guidelines provide guidance to Australian Government agencies on rights and responsibilities related to the acquisition and management of spatial information. This includes determining how the information will be managed, assigning any access constraints, and articulating the responsibilities associated with the maintenance, quality and enabling appropriate access to that information. [more information]
Maritime boundaries
The Guidelines for Describing Maritime Boundaries provides guidance to those people involved in describing and mapping maritime boundaries. The Guidelines aim to provide policy makers and negotiators with a broad understanding of the spatial issues that need to be considered when defining maritime boundaries; and spatial professionals with technical advice on how to describe and map maritime boundaries clearly and unambiguously. [more information]