About NationalMap

NationalMap, together with data.gov.au are essential mechanisms in the implementation of Australian Government’s Open Data Policy, for open data publication, discovery and consumption by government, industry, research, community organisations and the general public.

Since the 2014 launch of NationalMap, the number of datasets being made accessible has grown to over 13,000, federated from more than 50 data custodians, from all levels of government across Australia.

In 2021, NationalMap has reached more than 30,000 user sessions per month, meeting user’s needs for geospatial data and the insight it unlocks for a wide range of activities and benefits. These include enabling diagnostic tasks, facilitating research dissemination, supporting private and commercial activities, enabling knowledge acquisition regardless of level of tech literacy, and communicating information and insight broadly for data driven decision making.

Based on these usage patterns, 2021 projections of the net benefits to the Australian economy delivered by TerriaJS, the open source software powering NationalMap, are just over $70 Million for the 10-year period to 2030, representing a benefit cost ratio of 9.1 (Centre for International Economics, 2021).

Today National Map is managed by Geoscience Australia (GA) in collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61 for software development and data management. This is continuing the legacy of excellence in innovation and digital enablement of founding imitative partners, which included the Department of Communications and the Arts, the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C) and the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).

NationalMap is an online map-based tool to allow easy access to spatial data from Australian government agencies and is based on a fully open architecture. When you access data through it, you are typically accessing the data directly from the government department or agency who are the custodians of that data.

NationalMap

  • provides easy access to authoritative and other spatial data to government, business and the public
  • facilitates the opening of data by federal, state and local government bodies
  • provides an open framework of geospatial data services that supports commercial and community innovation

To see what data is available on NationalMap, refer to the Data Catalogue in the National Map itself. Click the Explore Map Data button and expand the datasets' group name.

Contributing Data to NationalMap

Spatial data sets which are published on data.gov.au using supported data formats and protocols (such as WMS) will automatically be included in NationalMap.

Australian government agencies that wish to find out more information about contributing data sets to NationalMap should email data@digital.gov.au with their questions. Typically, NationalMap does not store the data itself, but refers to the servers of the data contributors, directly harvesting that data and presenting it in the map. Therefore, agencies providing data directly must have it available via an online server using a standard protocol.

NationalMap Software

The core components of NationalMap are Open Source Software (OSS) libraries available as Github projects. The core platform, TerriaJS, was initially developed by Data61 for NationalMap, but has subsequently been used for other projects. It has been made available to assist with the development of other spatial data viewing applications.

The core software components of NationalMap are licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use the source code files except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Additional Open Source Software Used

In developing NationalMap, Data61 has used open source software and contributed back to it. NationalMap leverages these excellent open source libraries:

The complete list is available with the NationalMap source code

Data Attribution

The content presented in NationalMap is sourced from a wide range of organisations.

Data in the Catalogue

The datasets in the NationalMap application catalogue are sourced from Commonwealth Governments Departments and Agencies, State, Territory and Local Governments and other organisations. Details about each data custodian and their contact details can be found in the catalogue, usually under "Data Custodian" or "Description".

Base Maps:

Terrain:

Geocoders:

Terms & Conditions

The information displayed on NationalMap is for general informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide any commercial, financial, or legal advice. Any information in connection with NationalMap may not be appropriate to your individual needs. You must exercise your own independent, skill, care and judgment with respect to how you use the information displayed on NationalMap.

As a condition of using NationalMap, you must comply with all applicable laws, regulations and third party rights (including, without limitation, laws regarding the import or export of data or software, privacy and local laws). You must not use NationalMap to encourage or promote illegal activity or violation of third party rights. Some parts of NationalMap (like the URL shortening function) rely upon third party APIs.

In any important matter, you should seek professional advice relevant to your own circumstances.

Geoscience Australia and CSIRO’s Data61 (“We”) make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of any content or the product in connection with NationalMap. We disclaim all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence, for errors or omissions) for all expenses, loss, damage and costs which you might incur as a result of the information displayed on NationalMap and your use of it.

NationalMap must not be used for navigation or precise spatial analysis or for any activities where the use or failure of NationalMap could lead to death, personal injury, or environmental damage (such as the operation of nuclear facilities, air traffic control, or life support systems).

Access to data

Any information provided by data custodians displayed on NationalMap is provided as is and on the understanding that the respective data custodian is not responsible for, nor guarantees the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of that information. If you intend to rely on any information displayed on NationalMap or data.gov.au, then you must apply in writing to the respective data custodian for further authorisation.

You acknowledge that your use of NationalMap or data.gov.au means that you have provided your acceptance of these terms and conditions.

You must consider the usage rights and restrictions of the basemap and each activated dataset when using the output of NationalMap in broadcast, print, or other distribution. The terms of use of the default Bing Maps basemap may be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/maps/product/terms.html.

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