Functions of the Director and Surveyor-General
The Surveyors Act 2002 (the Act) empowers the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading (the Director) to receive complaints, undertake investigations and issue disciplinary orders against a registered surveyor in relation to their conduct, or for failing to comply with a Direction issued under section 15. The Director may consult with the Surveyor-General, his or her nominee, or a registered surveyor nominated by any relevant institution for these purposes.
The Director does not make a determination on the adequacy and accuracy of a survey or its compliance with relevant technical requirements and standards - these aspects are under the authority of the Surveyor-General. The Surveyor-General must initiate an investigation into the adequacy of accuracy of a survey where two surveyors or a surveyor and the registering authority are unable to agree. The the Surveyor-General may initiate an investigation if it is possible to identify an error requiring investigation by any means, including if a surveyor alerts the Surveyor-General to a possible error, typically of an historical nature.
Complaints may be laid by any person or organisation concerning the conduct of a surveyor. If a complaint relates to a surveyor acting contrary to consumer law, or otherwise to their personal conduct, then the complaint should be laid directly with the Director. For other concerns, it is recommended contact is made with the Office of Surveyor-General (OSG) to clarify the nature of the issue. The OSG may lay a complaint on its own volition, including where grounds for a complaint are revealed during investigations under the audit and investigation programs into the adequacy and accuracy of a survey, or join in a complaint with another person or organisation.
The Director may institute prosecutions against a registered surveyor or other person under relevant sections of the Act, or the OSG may request the Director to initiate a prosecution.
Grounds For Disciplinary Action
The Director must be satisfied one or more of the following grounds have been met to take disciplinary action against a surveyor:
(a) acted contrary to the Australian Consumer Law (Tasmania) Act 2010 ; or
(b) acted unlawfully, improperly, negligently or unfairly in the course of carrying on, or being employed or otherwise engaged in, the business of a registered surveyor; or
(c) falsely certified in respect of a survey or plan; or
(d) acted contrary to a direction issued under section 15 ; or
(e) contravened a provision of this Act; or
(f) contravened a condition of his or her registration imposed by the Director; or
(g) gained registration as a result of a false or misleading statement; or
(h) been found guilty of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty that is punishable on conviction by imprisonment for a term of 3 months or more.
Disciplinary Orders by the Director
If the Director finds there are grounds for disciplinary action against a registered surveyor then an order requiring one or more of the following may be issued:
(a) prohibit the registered surveyor from carrying on business as a registered surveyor;
(b) prohibit the registered surveyor from being employed or otherwise engaged in the business of a registered surveyor;
(c) reprimand the registered surveyor;
(d) require the registered surveyor to attend a specified educational course or provide evidence of self-education;
(e) require the registered surveyor to submit surveys for inspection by the Surveyor-General, at the surveyor's expense, prior to lodgement with the relevant authority;
(f) require the registered surveyor, at his or her own expense, to have surveys certified by another registered surveyor prior to lodgement;
(g) in the case of a land surveyor, require the surveyor to be re-accredited by the prescribed institute;
(h) require the registered surveyor to pay the reasonable costs of the hearing or any investigation conducted for the purposes of the hearing, or both.
An order may be applied permanently, for a specified period, until the fulfilment of any conditions specified in the order, or until a further order.
Publication of Disciplinary Orders and Prosecutions
From 5 July 2024 the Director was enabled with the authority to publish details of disciplinary orders in accordance with requirements specified in the Act in such as manner as he or she thinks fit, and those details may be published under this page in accordance with that authority. Disciplinary orders issued before this date are not published.
The Surveyor-General must make a note in the Register of Surveyors of all disciplinary orders made after 5 July 2024 in accordance with the requirements in the Act.
Disciplinary orders are published as a specific and general deterrent to surveyors to not engage in unacceptable behaviour, for the protection of consumers who wish to engage a surveyor, and for educational purposes.
There have been no prosecutions under the Surveyors Act 2002. In October 2024 a cease-and-desist order was issued by the Surveyor-General to a company who did not employ a registered land surveyor ordering them to stop conducting cadastral surveys for the purpose of showing boundary locations on detail survey plans. Written confirmation of their intention to cease conducting the surveys was provided to the Surveyor-General, avoiding the need to pursue a prosecution.
Disciplinary Orders since 5 July 2024
On the 4th of November 2024 the Director issued a disciplinary order against a registered land surveyor and resolved that the summary information below shall be published. The order was was made as a result of a complaint laid, and substantially investigated, prior to 5 July 2024. Under the particular circumstances applying the Director determined it was not appropriate to publish the order, or identity the surveyor. In accordance with the requirements of the Act, the Surveyor-General has included particulars in the Surveyors Register in respect of the surveyor.
Date: 4 November 2024
| Found that the registered land surveyor:
- acted unlawfully, improperly, and negligently in the course of carrying on, or being employed or otherwise engaged in, the business of a registered surveyor; and
- falsely certified in respect of a survey or plan;
- acted contrary to a direction issued under section 15 of the Act; and
- contravened provisions of the Act.
| In accordance with section 34 of the Act, the registered land surveyor :- must not carry on business as a registered land surveyor until such time as he provides a statutory declaration to the Office of Surveyor-General (OSG) identifying the location of all re-mark surveys, within the meaning prescribed by the Act and Directions, he has undertaken in the past seven years;
- is to abide by any directions given by the OSG which require him to provide corrections for all surveys declared where no documentation has previously been lodged in accordance with requirements, including but not limited to providing the outstanding corrections required of him pursuant to section 24 of the Act in relation to two OSG investigations;
- must submit surveys for inspection by the OSG, at his expense, prior to lodgement with the relevant authority (including all SIO survey notes prepared for re-mark surveys) for a period of two years.
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