Geological Survey of Victoria (1852 - )

Summary

The Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) was established in 1852 to map Victoria's geological resources. It is one of the longest-running government agencies in the State, and the oldest State Geological Survey in Australia.

The Geological Survey has studied, surveyed, and mapped the State's surface and sub-surface for more than 170 years.

Through geoscientific investigation and analysis, the GSV has provided vital information about the State's natural resources to the Victorian Government, industry, researchers, and the public.

While the Geological Survey function (Public Records Office VF 24) has been relatively stable over its lifetime and the title of its chief officer has remained Director of the Geological Survey of Victoria, the name of the responsible administrative unit has changed several times.

[Source: https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/VA4118 ]

Details

Over the many years since its inception, the Geological Survey of Victoria has been a subsidiary agency to numerous government Departments:

* 1852-1857: Surveyor-General's Department (VA 2921)
* 1857-1858: Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538)
* 1858-1861: Chief Secretary's Department (VA 475)
* 1861-1862: Department of Mines (also known as the Mining Department) (VA 2719)
* 1862-1867: Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538)
* 1867-1895: Department of Mines (also known as the Mining Department) (VA 2719)
* 1895-1909: Department of Mines and Water Supply (VA 2720)
* 1909-1977: Mines Department (also known as Department of Mines and Mining Department) (VA 612)
* 1977-1985: Department of Minerals and Energy (VA 611)
* 1985-1990: Department of Industry, Technology and Resources (VA 2661)
* 1990-1990: Department of Industry and Office of Economic Planning (previously known as Department of Industry and Economic Planning) (VA 3005)
* 1990-1992: Department of Manufacturing and Industry Development (VA 3012)
* 1992-1995: Department of Energy and Minerals (VA 3035)
* 1995-1996: Department of Agriculture, Energy and Minerals (VA 3744)
* 1996-2002: Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (VA 3972)
* 2002-2013: Department of Primary Industries (VA 4563)
* 2013-2014: Department of State Development, Business and Innovation (VA 5001)
* 2015-2018: Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (VA 5034)
* 2019-2022: Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (VA 5251)
* 2023-Present: Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (VA 5285)

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Geological Survey of Victoria - Records, 1896 - 1904, MS 073; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

CD Roms

• O'Shea, P. J., Beneath Our Feet: Celebrating 150 Years of the Geological Survey of Victoria (Melbourne: Geological Survey of Victoria, 2003). Details

Conference Papers

• McQueen, Ken, 'The Joint Border Prospecting Parties 1896-97: New South Wales and Victorian Geological Surveys', in The History of Geology in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century; the Story in Australia, and in Victoria, from Selwyn and McCoy to Gregory - 1853 to 1903 edited by Pierson, R. R. (Melbourne: Earth Sciences History Group, GSA Inc., 2007), pp. 57-61.. Details

Edited Books

• Johns, R.K. ed., History and role of government geological surveys in Australia (Adelaide: South Australian Government Printer, 1976), 111 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Dunn, E. J.; and Mahony, D. J., 'Biographical Sketch of the Founders of the Geological Survey of Victoria', Bulletins of The Geological Survey of Victoria, 23 (1910), 48. Details

Resources

• Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-462551. Details