Geoscience Australia Strategy 2026–2036 Introduction

Introduction from the Chief Executive Officer

Australia’s land and marine estate is like no other – vast, diverse and continually changing. It is defined by ancient landscapes, rich resources and dynamic environments. Understanding our unique land and seas has always been essential to our nation’s story.

For over 115 years, Geoscience Australia and our predecessors have played a central role in this journey, leading applied geoscience knowledge that underpins the safety, resilience and prosperity of our nation.

Applied geoscience supports around $124 billion in value to the economy each year.¹ This includes $76 billion added value through our precompetitive geoscience and 80,000 full-time equivalent jobs (2021–22).²

As we look towards the next decade, I am proud to share our Geoscience Australia Strategy 2026–2036. At its heart is our vision: “Shaping Australia’s future through geoscience insights.”

This vision reflects our ambition to bring together the best of our science, data and technology to inform decision-making in government and industry, drive innovation, and create opportunities for all Australians.

The strategy sets a clear path grounded in long-term government and national science and research priorities to ensure our work continues to benefit the nation for generations to come. Our geoscience insights will help Australia navigate our biggest challenges and opportunities like the transition to net zero, resource security, sustainable development, protection and restoration of Australia’s environment and the digital revolution. We will contribute to outcomes for First Nations peoples. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have thousands of years of continued connection to Country. We will learn from Indigenous knowledge systems so we can support First Nations self-determination and continued responsible management of Land and Sea Country.

Our science is more critical than ever and has been recognised in multi-decadal funding for key government initiatives. This includes Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity mapping Australia’s critical minerals and other strategic resources, Landsat Next providing a new phase in our space-based record of Earth’s land surface, SouthPAN delivering precise positioning to as little as 10 cm level accuracy and the Digital Atlas of Australia making the benefits of trusted location information accessible to all. These programs extend across the breadth of our geoscience capability focus areas: Resource potential, Positioning and navigation services, Earth analysis, National land, marine and coastal mapping and Hazards and impacts.

While these scientific foundations are enduring strengths, our strategy is more than sustaining what we do well. It highlights shifts to the way we work and how we deliver, so our applied geoscience can make the greatest impact. We are putting users at the centre, ensuring our efforts are shaped by the needs of government, industry and communities. We will be focused on building partnerships so we can move along the data value chain with purpose to deliver actionable insights, in useful and easy-to-understand formats. This means using modern enterprise systems that are efficient, cost-effective and scalable. We will take an enterprise approach, optimising for shared success and sustainability. These strategic shifts will allow us to be agile, resilient and impactful in a rapidly changing world.

Just as importantly, we will continue to build a safe and empowered workplace culture that values adaptability, diversity, leaders at all levels and good governance. We are also committed to preparing future generations with the skills and knowledge to sustain and advance our science. Our work in education, capability development and outreach play an important role in the science ecosystem that is building the next generation of geoscience leaders.

None of this will be possible without the passion and incredible expertise of our people. The Geoscience Australia team is made up of dedicated professionals whose curiosity, integrity and drive are the foundation of our success and the key to delivering our ambitious programs.

Realising our 10-year vision will take collective effort. We look forward to on-going engagement with our Geoscience Australia people, partners and stakeholders across government, academia and industry. Your expertise, ideas and commitment will inform the way we deliver integrated geoscience insights. Together, we can help shape a safe, prosperous and sustainable future for our nation.

Melissa Harris PSM
Chief Executive Officer